Carl Froch has not been one of Anthony Joshua’s most ardent supporters in recent weeks and now he has offered a brutal opinion on the heavyweight’s “awful” performance against Robert Helenius.
Former super middleweight champion Froch has been sharing plenty of thoughts on Joshua of late, from how he trains to why he split with his previous coach Rob McCracken.
Last weekend, Joshua took on late replacement opponent Robert Helenius at the O2 in London. For many, he started slowly and cautiously before eventually finding his range. With that came a huge right hand in the seventh which left Helenius down and out for the count.
There have been mixed reviews since the final bell with many wondering whether Joshua is indeed ready for the fight with Deontay Wilder which has long been teased for January 2024.
Speaking on his own Froch on Fighting channel, Froch offers “the truth” on the fight from his house in Spain.
“Here’s my analysis of the fight between Anthony Joshua and Robert Helenius – it’s time to hear the truth.
Anthony Joshua, if he’s looking at fighting Deontay Wilder, it was terrible. That performance was awful, it was such a bad performance in so many ways. He was tentative. He was gun shy, he looked like he didn’t want to be in there at times, he was getting outbox by a poor, weak jab. It was easily timeable.”
Forch then offered some advice on how Joshua should have gone about the fight.
“If someone throws a jab like that to you, step to the right-hand side and throw a big uppercut, or step to the outside and throw three or four shots. [Helenius] would have been out of there in one or two rounds like what Wilder did to him. Joshua was sitting there confused, looking scared to through.”
Froch then made another damming assessment of Joshua’s chances in the potential Wilder fight.
“He’s not ready for the Deontay Wilder fight. That performance does not set him up for a big showdown with Wilder.”
Though many agree, it still seems as though that fight could be next for AJ.