Hall of Fame trainer Teddy Atlas believes two-time heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua is a little bit overrated.
Atlas is not overly impressed with Joshua’s list of opponents. On the other hand, there is no dispute from Atlas that Joshua is a box office superstar.
“With respect, fans in the UK love a good loser. [Joshua] knocked out Charles Martin, who’s not on anybody’s list of great fighters, to win the title. He’s been an overrated guy,” Atlas said on his podcast.
“I can’t say it any clearer or give you any better reason for it. Who has he beat? I say it again, who has he beat? He’s lost and he’s lost by knockout. Alright, the last two to Usyk, he got hurt, he lost by decision, he showed heart.”
“But he got knocked out by Ruiz who took the fight on last minute notice. I really believe that Joshua has always been overrated, but he can bring in big money.”
AJ suffered his first career defeat back in June of 2019, when he was stopped in seven rounds by Andy Ruiz. Six months later, he reclaimed his world titles with a dominant decision over Ruiz in their rematch. And then retained the belts with a stoppage of Kubrat Pulev in 2020.
In 2021, Joshua was outboxed over twelve rounds by Oleksandr Usyk.
Last month in Saudi Arabia, the rematch saw Joshua do better, but he wasn’t able to overcome the skills of Usyk, who retained the WBO, IBF, IBO, WBA heavyweight belts with a split decision.
