Former unified world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua believes Deontay Wilder had absolutely no chance of beating the WBC ruler Tyson Fury in their trilogy fight in October.
“The Gypsy King” prevailed two knockdowns and delivered a devastating 11th round KO of his own, closing the chapter on his rivalry with the American.
Two weeks before that, Joshua got dominated by Ukraine’s Oleksandr Usyk. “AJ” was outclassed in every single paragraph and Usyk got the UD win after a masterclass performance in every single one of the 12 rounds.
A lot of people were quick to slam Joshua for his tactics and strategy going in the fight, but now Joshua himself is critiquing “The Bronze Bomber”.
“He tried, but to get that power and that ferociousness, you have to have it up here [points to his head],’ AJ said during a JD Sports round table.
‘Before you have it just here [clenches fists] at that level, you have to have it in your head.’
‘Not in this day and age can heavyweights jab for 12 rounds because heavyweights are different.
‘I met the guy who makes gloves the other day, and he said that they never used to have to make special gloves. But now heavyweights are 17 to 19 stone and six-foot ten. The whole division is changed in the last, like, five years.
‘And before, fighters could jab like that for 12 rounds and get away with it. They’d get a bit tired, but they were conditioned because they were lighter.
‘But now, when you’ve got big guys [who are] six-foot seven, they get tired.’
