Two-division world champion, Carl Frampton, has identified the key adjustment that Anthony Joshua must make to avoid getting knocked out in a potential heavyweight clash with Deontay Wilder.
After being linked to a showdown for over five years, confidence grew in recent months that ‘AJ’ would finally face ‘The Bronze Bomber’ in the near future.
However, the battle has been delayed and fans may have to wait as long until April to see the spectacle.
This will give the Brit more time to develop his relationship with Derrick James, who was appointed as his new trainer at the beginning of the year.
Since the appointment, Joshua has underwhelmed but won in two bouts against Jermaine Franklin and Robert Helenius.
Frampton told Simon Jordan’s Up Front podcast that whilst there’s a reason behind AJ’s new style, it could prove to be costly.
“Genuinely I think one of the issues is that he has got a new trainer, Derrick James, and they are trying to change his style a little bit.
So, I think that he is boxing in a way that the coach wants him to and I think that is probably in preparation for fights like Wilder or Fury, or maybe Usyk if they come again, the trainer doesn’t want him to be so gung-ho.
When you look at his performance against Franklin, I think that he is performing like that because that is the instructions that he has been told to box to, for potential preparation for future fights.”
“The way that I think AJ beats someone like Wilder is to be a bit more like the old ‘AJ’ and have a go, and I think that if he tries to stand off and box then he might get nailed and knocked out.”
