Former welterweight champion Kell Brook agrees with Carl Froch about Anthony Joshua being “chinny” after watching him get demolished quickly by IBF heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois in a fight that resembled a slaughter more than a competitive clash that fans had expected it to be.
Brook feels that the former two-time champion Joshua (28-4, 25 KOs) can’t take a shot well, which is an understatement. Froch believes AJ’s problems with his deteriorating punch resistance date back to his knockout loss to Andy Ruiz Jr. in June 2019, but they were obviously there far earlier.
Dillian Whyte had hurt Joshua in their clash in 2015 and 41-year-old Wladimir Klitschko in 2017. In 2011, Mihai Nistor knocked Joshua out in the 39th European Amateur Boxing Championships.
Those three fights showed that Joshua had a chin problem well before Dubois got to him on September 21st. It’s just that AJ’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, had kept him out of harm’s way for most of his career by selectively matching him.
“I do think he’s a big chinny. I know it’s heavyweight boxing, but he doesn’t seem to be able to hold a shot very well. It’s very noticeable. You can see it in his body. His legs go, and everything else. You can still see it. I do think he’s a big chinny,” said Kell Brook to Pro Boxing Fans, reacting to being told that Carl Froch said Anthony Joshua’s punch resistance is gone since his loss to Andy Ruiz Jr. in June 2019.
It’s obvious that Joshua can’t hold a punch, and fans would have seen what I had noticed if they had their eyes open. You could see that Joshua had been fighting fighting stiffs his entire career, and he’d gotten away with it due to the public being casual fans of the sport.
The hardcore fans understood what Joshua’s career was all about and weren’t tricked by the way Hearn had matched him. He turned him into a manufactured star but with no substance. He was a product to be sold to the public.
“I think he needs to regroup and come back with a vengeance because if that was me, I’d be devastated,” said Brook about Joshua. “I’d be doing everything in my power to right that wrong and turn it around. He left his chin exposed. I don’t think he boxed very well,” said Brook about Joshua.
I don’t know if Brook believes Joshua can “turn it around” against Dubois. You could see that Joshua was hurt from the first round and continued to be shaken up each time Dubois connected cleanly.
Joshua can resume beating the lesser heavyweights that Hearn had been matching him up against recently. That’s within Joshua’s power, but he can’t beat fighters like Dubois or Martin Bakole. He can probably beat Tyson Fury because he’s washed up, old, slow, and can’t punch. However, by the time Joshua fights him, Tyson will be coming off consecutive defeats against Oleksandr Usyk, and it won’t mean much to beat him.
“I thought Dubois had a brilliant jab, and he did exactly what he needed to do in that fight,” said Brook. “He took care of Joshua pretty quick. From round one, he was hurt and jumped on him from there. It’s a fight we need to see again straight away. It’s a fight of ‘What’s going to happen this time.’ Everyone is going to tune in for it.”
People will definitely tune in to see a rematch between Joshua and Dubois, but it won’t end well for AJ. Dubois is going to rewatch his fight with Joshua and wants to improve his performance by starting the rematch more quickly. Joshua’s punch resistance won’t have improved, and he’ll be destroyed within a couple of rounds. Retirement will be Joshua’s only option after that loss.
“Of course, he does. He just beat Anthony Joshua,” said Brook when asked if Daniel Dubois has a chance of beating Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk. “He’s put his name amongst the very best in the world now.
“He’s a multi-millionaire overnight, and I’m proud. He’s made himself after that fight. Now, he’s got a rematch for big money. All them top boys are going to tune in to see him,” said Brook about Dubois.
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