Following Anthony Joshua’s victory over Robert Helenius earlier in August, Carl Froch has said Tony Bellew shouldn’t be DAZN commentary duties when his ‘friends’ are fighting.
Froch’s comments came after Bellew seemed to be a lot more impressed with Joshua than many other onlookers, at one point suggesting he was carrying Helenius in order to get rounds under his belt.
One of the co-comms team, Andy Lee, did disagree, and Bellew later admitted that Joshua’s performance would not be good enough to have beaten the division’s champions.
Speaking to Boxing King Media, DAZN host Ade Oladipo agreed when it was put to him that Bellew is ‘too biased’ and ‘can’t be neutral’ when his friends are fighting.
“When Tony told me he was coming down to the commentary booth for that AJ fight, he was even telling me he can’t handle it, he can’t control it. He almost admits it himself he’s not the best in doing that kind of stuff, he does get a bit too excited when his friends or people he knows are fighting.”
Oladipo then suggested a way around the problem.
“I think DAZN needs to make a decision and keep him in the studio … I don’t even know why he was there.
Mike Costello is fine, very neutral, Darren Barker is good as well, Barry Jones, perfect. You don’t need Tony there. Keep Tony away from commentary. He knows this, we all know this, and I think DAZN finally knows this as well.”
The reaction to Joshua’s performance drew both praise and criticism from fans and pundits. He’s now expected to move ahead with negotiations to fight American heavyweight, Deontay Wilder.