Anthony Joshuas biggest problem nobody will dare | Boxing News

Former cruiserweight world champion Johnny Nelson believes Anthony Joshua’s alternative to compete for boxing’s most prestigious titles has handed. Nelson has pinned the previous world No.1’s decline on his lack of a help system that would push him to peak efficiency. Just three years in the past, Joshua, 35, was positioned to unify the heavyweight division before back-to-back defeats to Oleksandr Usyk.

The Olympic gold medallist then appeared to be mounting a comeback after stringing collectively 4 consecutive victories, only to endure a crushing fifth-round knockout loss to Daniel Dubois final yr. Nelson, who hung up his gloves in 2006 following a decade without defeat, reckons the boxing world has “seen the best” of Joshua and he has partly attributed his tumble from the world title scene to ‘AJ’ missing the right people in his camp.

“It’s very hard to have people around you that’ll tell you how it is,” ‘The Entertainer’ informed the Mirror, courtesy of NewBettingSites.uk. “You’re going to have people around you that want to stay in your employment, stay in that circle. So they’re going to tell you stuff that you want to hear.

“They’re not going to inform you, ‘You need to be doing this, you need to get a hand up, you are getting hit, you are getting beat up by this man right here. Why are you doing that? Why aren’t you working this time? Why are you going to open that crisp packet when try to be in the gymnasium?'”

Nelson claimed: “Nobody on his squad are going to dare inform him that with any conviction. And so now all of a sudden the roles have modified, whereas when you are hungry, and you need it, they need to drag you up.

“Now he’s the boss. They work for him. And so that’s where the problem is. And I think that along with time, along with age, along with experience, along with appetite, once they get out of kilter [it’s over]. AJ’s in that position.”

A transparent tone of disappointment could possibly be detected in AJ’s voice as he watched Usyk’s brutal knockout of Dubois at Wembley on Saturday.  Promoter Eddie Hearn knowledgeable his fighter they “should have beaten Dubois,” with the previous world champion responding plainly: “I know.”

Joshua’s good document was shattered when he endured one other stunning defeat in June 2019, struggling a seventh-round stoppage against Andy Ruiz. Whilst he secured revenge just six months afterwards, it supplied yet one other illustration of the Briton’s misjudgement.

His pair of factors losses to Usyk can scarcely be deemed disgraceful contemplating the Ukrainian’s triumphs since stepping up to heavyweight. However, the identical can not essentially be argued relating to his IBF title bout with Dubois, particularly given the situation he displayed during that period.

Nevertheless, it is arguably vital that both of those stunning defeats to Ruiz and Dubois occurred during intervals when AJ was experiencing great momentum in his profession.

The first materialised when Joshua boasted a good 22-0 document and possessed the WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, and IBO titles, while Dubois conquered him exactly when it appeared he had regained his dominance, having stopped each of his previous three opponents.

He now confronts an unsure future, with  a potential bout against YouTuber Jake Paul being advised, while rumours of a Tyson Fury encounter are perpetually circulating.

Nelson proceeded to evaluate Joshua’s predicament to that of former coaching associate Prince Naseem Hamed, who was once a world-beater himself.

“I’ve been around Prince Naseem, an amazing fighter. And I was around him from the very beginning of his career,” Nelson continued. “But then all of a sudden he started to surround himself with yes men. He deleted all the people that kept him grounded and said it how it was to him to keep him real.

“And the more yes males he surrounded himself with, the more his boxing life turned into chaos. He misplaced fights he should not have finished.

“He was surrounding himself by the swimming pool in Bob Hope’s house when [Marco Antonio] Barrera was up in the mountains training. And he’s saying, ‘Yeah, I don’t have to do this.’ There was nobody around him to say, ‘What are you doing?’ It’s the same with a lot of modern fighters now.”

The earnings for top-tier boxers right now are increased than ever, and Nelson is happy that Joshua has amassed enough wealth to comfortably retire from the game. However, there’s a lingering query as to why Britain’s former golden boy hasn’t totally realised his potential, with some suggesting that those in Joshua’s circle might share some accountability.