Former cruiserweight world champion, Johnny Nelson, has voiced his opinion on Anthony Joshua’s comeback performance.
Joshua returned to the ring last weekend for the first time since back-to-back defeats to Oleksandr Usyk. And although he got the wide decision victory against a durable Jermaine Franklin, he wasn’t able to get the knockout fans and pundits craved.
Many felt Joshua needed to make a statement on his return to make the rest of the division take notice, but a somewhat lacklustre performance has perhaps raised more questions than answers.
Some pundits feel that ‘AJ’ hasn’t been the same fighter since his shock loss to Andy Ruiz Jr back in 2019, with Carl Froch saying Ruiz took a piece of Joshua’s soul that night.
Speaking to iFL TV, Nelson has gone a step further, suggesting the former heavyweight champion has lost his fire and desire.
“I love AJ, I like him. I think his natural instinct and fire and desire has gone. I think he’s now fighting on ego.
You look round at ringside and you see members of his tam with heads in their hands and I personally think he’s now fighting for the wrong reasons and that effects your appetite, it effects your reasoning, it effects your drive. I think he actually tried to box with more intent but he’s 33 years-old.
There are certain things he’s doing now that he shouldn’t be doing, when he’s in the clinch looking over to his corner, mid fight, you just don’t do that. At 33 years old you should know what you’re doing.
At 33 years old, I’m not saying he’s over the hill, but he should know better by now.”
What’s next for Joshua remains to be seen, with Dillian Whyte looking the likely favourite, but a summer blockbuster against Tyson Fury is also starting to gain momentum, with Eddie Hearn revealing Fury’s US promoter, Bob Arum, has already made contact about the fight.