AJ needs to show he's prepared to be a front foot wrecking machine again. Time will tell if he's still prepared to take a few to land the big one. As Hagler said, it's hard to get up in the morning when you sleep in silk sheets.
Joshua going 2 - 3 in his last 5 fights looks worse than it actually is imo. The 3 loses not being as bad as they seem.
Anyone who had followed Joshua's fights from his debut onwards could tell, just by looking at him, that he had something wrong with him before even stepping into the ring to fight Ruiz at MSG.
However, Joshua didn't want to make it common knowledge because he said he didn't want to make excuses - a good example, that Ruiz didn't want to follow after losing the rematch.
In Joshua's other two loses he faced someone who was simply too fast and too skilled for him.
A fighter who could go down as an ATG. A fighter who had surprised Joshua, in their first fight, by making little effort against Witherspoon and Chisora to appear there for the taking.
BTW anyone who genuinely thinks Usyk's level of fitness and skills were exactly the same for the Witherspoon, Chisora & Joshua fights should probably follow another sport.
I like the combination of Derrick James and Joshua as there does appear to be similarities between Spence, the Charlo's and Joshua as fighters. Of course it will take several fights with his new trainer to see James' influence on AJ. However Joshua MUST beat Franklin tonight and probably needs to do it convincingly. If Joshua loses he said he will retire - which is the only reasonable course of action he'll have, unless the loss is due to a weird injury scenario.
AJ needs to show he's prepared to be a front foot wrecking machine again. Time will tell if he's still prepared to take a few to land the big one. As Hagler said, it's hard to get up in the morning when you sleep in silk sheets.
Joshua going 2 - 3 in his last 5 fights looks worse than it actually is imo. The 3 loses not being as bad as they seem.
Anyone who had followed Joshua's fights from his debut onwards could tell, just by looking at him, that he had something wrong with him before even stepping into the ring to fight Ruiz at MSG.
He said there had been a health problem when interviewed by Steve Bunce and Mike Costello after the Ruiz rematch win. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEiI5c2iUDY
However, Joshua didn't want to make it common knowledge because he said he didn't want to make excuses - a good example, that Ruiz didn't want to follow after losing the rematch.
In Joshua's other two loses he faced someone who was simply too fast and too skilled for him.
A fighter who could go down as an ATG. A fighter who had surprised Joshua, in their first fight, by making little effort against Witherspoon and Chisora to appear there for the taking.
BTW anyone who genuinely thinks Usyk's level of fitness and skills were exactly the same for the Witherspoon, Chisora & Joshua fights should probably follow another sport.
I like the combination of Derrick James and Joshua as there does appear to be similarities between Spence, the Charlo's and Joshua as fighters. Of course it will take several fights with his new trainer to see James' influence on AJ. However Joshua MUST beat Franklin tonight and probably needs to do it convincingly. If Joshua loses he said he will retire - which is the only reasonable course of action he'll have, unless the loss is due to a weird injury scenario.