Anthony Joshua capped off 2023 with a third win, this time a stoppage over Swedish southpaw Otto Wallin.
It’s not something that overly impressed one Lennox Lewis, who told the Ring Magazine that ‘AJ’ ‘gained nothing’ from fighting a guy that ‘has no definition and doesn’t throw any punches.’
“Joshua lost and he came back against Franklin and Helenius. Everyone is judging him and watching him closely. I look at Joshua and I’m like, ‘OK, he’s had a couple gimme fights, he doesn’t need any more gimme fights.’ He wants to test his skill, give him something. You cannot give scraps to a dog. This guy wants to go out there and prove himself. Allow him to, don’t baby him.”
“This last guy [Wallin], I don’t know how you’re picking your [opponents]. [Joshua] sparred with him and he beat him, so he knows how he is and he beat him as an amateur, [his team is like] ‘this is the guy we should fight.’ No, that’s not the guy you should be fighting because you don’t get respect fighting those guys.”
“He needs to be fighting guys people can say, ‘That’s a good guy. You’re back on top.’ Not a guy that has no definition, doesn’t throw any punches and sinks to body punches. To me there’s nothing gained. It’s false security. Anybody can beat these guys [and] knock ’em out, but it didn’t do anything for you. Gain is when you conquer.”
Many in the sport are hailing Joshua’s fifth round forced corner stoppage as a return to best form, but Lewis may reserve judgement until he sees him in a fight with more jeopardy.
For that, he suggests Zhilei Zhang – a man, like Wallin, who lost in the amateurs to Joshua. China’s ‘Big Bang’ had one of the most impressive calendar years in the heavyweight division, twice dispatching previously unstoppable Joe Joyce.
“Be a conqueror, beat the guy [Zhilei Zhang] that beat your fellow Englishman, Joe Joyce. The only new name is Frank Sanchez, that’s a good fight for him.
“The problem now, he’s going to be boxing the guys who are coming up, but his main competitors for more credibility are now Fury and Zhang. For me, boxing the guys who were coming up when I was there, I didn’t want that. I wanted guys who I could sink my teeth into, guys who would get me somewhere. Right now, [Joshua] is basically there waiting for a chance. They’re saying he’s got to keep busy but I’m like, this guy was supposed to be boxing for the championships a long time ago.”
Whilst Zhang has been mooted as a potential opponent, Joshua also may have a vacant world title shot against the IBF’s number one contender, Filip Hrgovic, should the belt become vacant after Tyson Fury’s undisputed fight with Oleksandr Usyk.