Froch Downplays Joshua’s Legacy
Carl Froch has downplayed suggestions that Anthony Joshua is a great fighter based on his resume.
Froch is a four-time super middleweight champion and a Hall of Famer. He was known for fighting the best, only losing to Andre Ward and Mikkel Kessler. Froch avenged the Kessler loss, but the Ward rematch never happened. Joshua is a former Unified Heavyweight Champion on two occasions. His only defeats have come against Andy Ruiz Jr. and Oleksandr Usyk twice. AJ’s biggest win was against Wladimir Klitschko. That resume has made Joshua one of the most lucrative fighters in the world. And yet, Froch was not impressed.
Froch On Joshua
Joshua was accused of quitting against Ruiz when he stood near the ropes for too long after being dropped numerous times. Usyk completely outboxed him in both fights, showing that he fell short at the elite level. Joshua will now box Daniel Dubois on September 21 for the chance to become a three-time world champion. A win sets up an undisputed fight between the winner of Usyk and Tyson Fury. But even with that, Froch does not see AJ as an all-time great yet.
“You can’t say that winning a vacant title that’s been stripped off the champ makes you a three-time world champion. That’s the problem I’ve got with this title being fragmented or being vacated or taken off the actual real champ, which is Usyk.
“That’s my main problem. If AJ beats Dubois, he’s going to hold his hand up with that IBF belt and say, I am now a three-time heavyweight world champion. And everybody with a brain is going to be looking, saying, hang on a minute, didn’t you lose to the guy [twice] that just took that belt off?
“Boxing shouldn’t be like that. And that will be solved if we have the boxing league. If Turki Alalshikh steps in and starts running boxing like Dana White [UFC style]. You won’t get this,” Froch said
Joshua’s Legacy
However, Joshua can still achieve more if he becomes undisputed. A win against Fury or Usyk will earn him the biggest victory of his career. Those two are considered the best heavyweights of their era. It also allows Joshua to join the likes of Lennox Lewis in becoming an undisputed champion. In Joshua’s defense, he can only beat those who are in front of him.
The heavyweight division may not be as competitive as days gone by. But Joshua has fought almost everyone, with a big win being the only thing missing. He has also given back outside of the ring. Joshua was responsible for making British boxing popular with stadium fights after winning Olympic Gold in London 2012. But if he wants to be recognized by his fellow fighters, he must get a big win.
“I’ll go back to what I said earlier before the fanboys get upset and start writing into the Cobra, moaning about how I fought Lucian Bute for the IBF title. He had ten defenses, and he was an unbeaten IBF champion. So I beat the champ. And also the WBC as well. I fought for the WBC title, which Joe Calzaghe vacated because he didn’t want a piece of the Cobra,” Froch added
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