Anthony Joshua is preparing for another return to the boxing ring later this year, but one British great believes the party is already over for the two-time world heavyweight champion.
The 35-year-old Joshua is currently recovering from elbow surgery and is likely to be back in action at some stage between October and December, with a string of potential opponents lined up.
But it will be a tough road back to the very top for AJ as he comes off that brutal knockout loss to Daniel Dubois at Wembley Stadium last September. Joshua was down in four of the five rounds before his bid to become a three-time heavyweight king was abruptly curtailed.
Joshua (28-4) is without a title, and according to former super-middleweight world champion Carl Froch, he is without a hope of once again becoming the devastating force of old. A man who once ruthlessly cleaned out the heavyweight division as the best finisher in the sport.
Froch believes AJ’s renaissance in late 2023 and early 2024 – with four straight wins – was an illusion helped by the opposition he was facing. An illusion that gave way to reality once he came up agains the young, hungry, fast and powerful Dubois.
Froch delivers brutal Joshua KO
Speaking on his Froch On Fighting Youtube channel, ‘The Cobra’ said: “AJ’s been flat and ironed out a few times. We’ve seen him lose against Ruiz. Lost his soul. Never regained it, did he? He had a comeback with Franklin, Helenius. He also beat Otto Wallin and then Ngannou, the MMA fighter. Them four fights really flattered AJ. They never really tested him. He was never put under the kosh. He was never, never having to fight in there with anybody that was really coming in there swinging, trying to take him out.
“The minute he steps in with somebody that was lively, with a pulse, that was trying to do him – what happened to him? He got f***ing flattened. And to me that was the end of it.
“He got dropped in round 1 by Dubois. He got finished off in round 5 – BAD. And I don’t think he will ever, ever recover from that. I think AJ’s finished. Honestly, he’s finished. Done. And the only fight potentially for him is the Fury fight. Forget rematching Usyk. Forget Daniel Dubois again, because we know what’s gonna happen. We’ve already seen it.
“The fight with Fury’s safe enough ’cause Fury would probably struggle to knock him out with one punch. I’m not saying he can’t do that – he probably can – but that’s a fight that I would probably say, you know what? If you’re gonna come out of retirement, I know Anthony Joshua’s not retired – but if Fury’s gonna come out of retirement, that makes sense for Fury. Because for me, it’s a f***ing easy win.”
Fury vs Joshua analysis
While many fight fans still yearn for that long-awaited Fury vs Joshua showdown, Froch is not one of them. He believes it would be an easy night’s work for ‘The Gypsy King’.
“I’m not being horrible. Tyson Fury for me runs rings around Anthony Joshua. AJ’s got no confidence. He got flattened in his last fight. And look at the form that Anthony Joshua has been on compared to the form that Tyson Fury’s been on. Tyson Fury is naturally talented. Very skilful. You see him again, he’s a technician. You see him against Usyk – yes, he lost – but he was in the fight from Round 1 to Round 12. It was quite a close fight. The right man won. Usyk beat him fair and square. But if you look at the form, and look at the quality and natural ability and the talent and where he is with his mind, Tyson Fury really is a massive favourite in my book going into that fight.
“He’ll absolutely maul him at the press conference, he’ll ruin him at the weigh-in. By the time he gets in the ring, AJ – poor AJ – won’t know where he is. He’ll be ragdolled everywhere, mentally. He’ll get in the ring and Fury, for me, will just absolutely hammer him. And I just think that for me, if I’m Tyson Fury and I’m looking at – or I’m looking after – Tyson Fury, that is the f***ing fight for him. Anthony Joshua. For me, it’s an easy win. It’s a bit of a mismatch. I don’t wanna disrespect AJ, but for me, Tyson Fury beats Anthony Joshua easy. So it makes absolute perfect sense for Fury to come out of retirement and fight AJ.”
