Post-Fight Press Conference: Anthony Joshua

Whyte povetkin was a weird one too. Don’t think Yarde had a rematch clause i think Frank Warren just wanted to match them again, don’t know why tho

 

The one thing the lad already has is millions. He needs a step back now...should have had one after the ruiz one fight if truth be told.

Its allright winning these titles but if your gonna keep losing it a fight or two later every time...it shows your probably not quite ready to be in that position.

Looks to me like he wants to achieve in the sport...he has tbf. Hes achieved more than anyone could dream of...its time to give him the chance to see if hes good enough or not now tho.

Usyks a great fighter...but he,s a cruiserweight. At the end of the fight he almost got joshua out of their...joshua was slumped needing a seat he was so tired. How often have you seen that at the top level. The corner was a mess. He seems to be stuck between styles. Turning up to press conferences looking tired/stressed talking like hes not fussed if he wins or not. The last thing the guy needs is a rematch with usyk regardless of what him or eddie hearn says imo. 2 fights ago ruiz battered him into submission....before he came back and won by running away half the night.

He needs an easy comeback fight now. Needs to come up with a proper gameplan that makes him as effective as possible. Needs to sort out the trainer situation. Needs to take the pressure off and get back his confidence. Get busy next year but against guys that will help rebuild his confidence.

The way it looks just now i wouldnt back joshua with massive confidence to beat everyone outside the top 3. Fury would embarrass him. Usyk will beat him comfortably again. I also think wilder would go through him. You cant turn up against wilder with half belief in yourself. Joshua needs time to sort out where he,s at to give himself a proper chance. He wont tho because eddie and everyone around him will tell him otherwise...but i think we all know how its gonna end.

 

He doesn't need an easy fight. He lost to the better man, ain't no shame in losing to Usyk. He should definitely go for the rematch. Sort the corner out, get rid of all the hanger ons and get his belts back.

 

Good post agree with everything you say here.it seems as though him and Hearn are committed to going straight into a rematch again though so he's not going to get that time to change up and rebuild.its up to him and Hearn ultimately,if they believe they can win the rematch and get beat again Without any noticeable changes being made then that's on them.

 

He lost against a 34 year old...that had to eat his way up to 220 lbs. With a 4 inch reach advantage...a 3 inch height advantage. A good 20 lb weight advantage. Was continually hit with the same punch over and over again. Had to sit on his stool to get his breath back after the final bell. Wasnt worried about the result...cause he had to get his breath back. Looked resigned to lose from early and the truth is dereck chisora gave usyk a better fight.

Usyks brilliant...but that should have been his hardest nights work. Instead it was a pretty straight forward outing for him. After that performance your scratching your head thinking why is there even a cruiserweight division why aren,t they all not plying their trade at heavyweight.

Even if he does somehow manage to get a result in the rematch...someones going to badly hurt him if they keep trying to take on these so called big challenges the way its going.

The truth is joshuas been trying to tell us for a while now what he needs....to learn. To get better. You do that by fighting the right guys at the right time...building up your confidence finding the most effective way to fight etc. Needs a new trainer. Needs to set his sights much lower for now get busy and find out how good he really is.

 

AJ doesn’t have a choice, like the Ruiz 2 fight, but to go for a rematch. If he doesn’t he is frozen out of the title picture for 2 years. It’s the same with everyone else at the moment - look at Whyte. He’s been angling for his shot for ages (okay he was offered AJ 2 when Miller fell through and he was a ****ing idiot to turn it down) but hasn’t managed it, other good top contenders too have been frozen out. Pulev was mandatory in 2017 (lost out cause of injury then) and had to wait over 3 years for his shot.

AJ takes a step back I don’t think he’s fighting for the belt until 2023.

 

This. I used to have the same frustration with Audley Harrison many years ago. The basic and simple truth that boxing is FIGHTING gets sacrificed on the alter of sports psychology. I myself think joshua isn't actually all that 'relaxed', I think he gets tight before these performances and is now gun shy after Ruiz. Call it what you want, losing the killer instinct etc, but I more see this as Joshua has lost his appetite to go out on his shield. I think that's never good in the heavyweight division as everyone has an equaliser.

Joshua is 6'6 of muscle.

 

For a start aj,s the money man in the division. Heard eddie hearn say that about being frozen out the other day. Its rubbish. Its him just trying to get some big money back as quickly as possible with a usyk rematch.

 

He 100% had a rematch clause. Frank Warren reported Arthur to the BBBoC for not honouring it before it’s now been agreed.

 

Christ

 

You mean Whyte was on a cycle and had to turn it down

 

I get what you're saying mate. It's a catch 22 situation for him though .If he has easy fights now he will get crucified. If he isn't up for the rematch straight away I would understand that, I think he should fight the loser of Fury/Wilder or even the winner of Whyte/Wallin.

 

He’s only the money man when he’s champion and winning - people weren’t paying a grand a ticket for him to beat Gary Cornish. People love AJ when he’s in the big fights, but if he loses the straight rematch and decides to fight on he isn’t selling out a football stadium vs Daniel Dubois or someone of that ilk - I can guarantee it. Mayweather was the money fight because people paid to watch him lose - if Mayweather had lost to say, Robert Guerrero and had a mixed record after that, does he sell out the MGM and do millions on PPV vs Berto? I don’t think so.

The money man in any division is only that until they start losing.

Can’t argue with that to be fair.

 

Great post