Anthony Joshua has became too fixated on technical boxing and has lost the raw aggression that brought him so much success in the early days of his professional journey – that’s according to one of his rivals in the heavyweight division.
Croatian contender Filip Hrgovic gave the above analysis in an interview with BoxingScene, and stated he was wary of falling into a similar trap.
Hrgovic is currently the IBF’s number one challenger in line for Oleksandr Usyk’s belt, and has 12 knockouts from 15 fights. He intends to keep it that way by not following in ‘AJ’s footsteps.
“I’m careful not to learn too much and become something that I’m not, taking away my advantages.”
“I think that happened to Anthony Joshua. He was a beast. He was a knockout artist and then he started to learn too much about boxing and he started to box too much, overthinking.”
Hrgovic’s view is not an uncommon one amongst those in the boxing fraternity, with many pinpointing the knockout loss to Andy Ruiz Jr as a watershed moment in Joshua’s career.
There are strong rumours that ‘AJ’ has selected Derrick James as his new trainer, after promoter Eddie Hearn confirmed that his charge’s well publicised hunt for a new coach had finally come to an end.
Fighters under James are known for being aggressive, spiteful and finishing fights early, so the American could be the perfect remedy for the perceived pitfalls that have recently crept into Joshua’s game.
Fans are now just awaiting confirmation as to who the former unified world champion’s comeback opponent will be, with a return date of early April in the offing.
Recent Dillian Whyte opponent Jermaine Franklin is now believed to be the frontrunner to land a lucrative fight with Joshua, with Franklin’s promoter Dmitry Salita revealing last week that contact had been received from Matchroom.