David Haye has given his assessment on Anthony Joshua, and has echoed calls for the return of a more aggressive approach from the former unified world champion.
Joshua successfully came though his comeback fight against Jermaine Franklin at the 02 Arena last weekend, with all three ringside judges awarding him a wide points victory.
Speaking to Pro Boxing Fans, Haye praised ‘AJ’ for coming through the contest after successive losses to Oleksandr Usyk, but implored him to go back to the “killer” version that he saw against Dillian Whyte.
“I thought he won the fight conclusively, he ticked all the boxes in terms of coming back from back to back defeats.”
“I want him to be the best version of himself, and I want to see the killer come back. I want the Joshua who fought Dillian Whyte at the 02 all those years ago, the one who can let his hands go and doesn’t mind getting hit.”
“That’s the version of ‘AJ’ we all want to see.”
Many observers felt Joshua looked tentative and gun shy at the weekend, despite handling Franklin in relatively comfortable fashion.
It was the 33 year old’s first fight under new coach Derrick James, with whom he has been working in Dallas, Texas since the turn of the year.
There had been talk before the Franklin fight that an historic clash with Tyson Fury could be next for Joshua, however promoter Eddie Hearn has since said he would prefer his prized heavyweight have at least one more outing under James.
This looks set to come in the shape of old nemesis Dillian Whyte, who was critical of Joshua’s performance whilst working as part of the DAZN broadcast team.