Former cruiserweight world champion, Johnny Nelson, is in agreement with Carl Froch on his Anthony Joshua vs Deontay Wilder prediction.
Joshua and Wilder look set to meet this December as one half of a four-man tournament in Saudi Arabia, with plans to also stage Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk on the same night.
Hall-of-Fame boxer, Froch, said he expected Wilder to render Joshua ‘unconscious’ if the two were to meet.
“I think he’s lost confidence, I don’t think he believes in himself. I hope AJ manages to come back and starts to believe in himself.”
“I just think Deontay Wilder at some stage will catch Anthony Joshua on the chin and render him unconscious.”
In an interview with Pro Boxing Fans, it seems that Nelson, going on what he saw in Joshua’s last outing against Jermaine Franklin, is on the same page as ‘The Cobra’.
“If the ‘AJ’ that boxes Franklin gets in there, then yes I do agree [with Carl Forch] if that ‘AJ’ gets in the ring. ‘AJ’ needs time off to decide who he is, where he is, why he’s doing it – he’s got a new trainer to do new things.
He’s a former two-time world champion so he’s not got the luxury of saying ‘I just want a bit of a gimmie here’. He’s been at the top, so to come back down and make these mistakes, to be respected at the top again is going to be hard for him.”
‘The Entertainer’ believes Joshua’s best option is to take a long period away from the ring to work with his new trainer, Derrick James.
“Have a year out, set yourself in with a trainer, immerse yourself in with what he’s teaching you, so when you come out you are that fresh fighting machine who understands what he’s doing.”
Eddie Hearn flew out to the Middle East last week to discuss the a deal for ‘The Bronze Bomber’ to face his charge, hoping to put pen to paper in the next few weeks.