Carl Froch has reacted to Anthony Joshua’s comeback performance against Jermaine Franklin and has warned him off certain opponents.
Joshua returned to the ring against Franklin for the first time since his rematch defeat to Oleksandr Usyk last August.
Under the guidance of new trainer Derrick James, fans were hoping to see a return to the more aggressive AJ seen earlier in his career. However, for most of the fight it appeared to be much of the same, with pundits imploring the former heavyweight champion to let his hands go.
Froch claims Joshua has never been the same since his defeat to Andy Ruiz Jr back in 2019 and has warned the Brit against facing Deontay Wilder or Tyson Fury anytime soon.
Speaking on his ‘Froch on Fighting’ YouTube channel, he said:
“People have asked me tonight, ‘where does he go from here?’ after that performance. Well I’ll tell you where he doesn’t go, he doesn’t go Deontay Wilder, he doesn’t go Oleksandr Usyk, he certainly doesn’t go Tyson Fury, because the top 3 heavyweights, based on that performance for me would destroy him.
He needs to up it he needs to get his confidence back. He needs to show us something more than what he showed us there.
I’m not saying he can’t do it, but I don’t know where the motivation will come from and I don’t know where the desire is going to come from. He’s been a world champion, he’s climbed off the floor to defend his title and he’s looked good doing it but since his loss to Andy Ruiz I just think he’s not been that same fighter.”
Most expected Joshua to get the knockout on Saturday and set up a blockbuster clash with Fury in the summer. After failing to get the stoppage he craved, the Dillian Whyte rematch now looks favourite before going into a mega fight with either ‘The Gypsy King’ or ‘The Bronze Bomber’.