Froch Tells Joshua To Change His Team – ‘He’s Gone Backwards’
Carl Froch called on Anthony Joshua to get rid of his current training set-up and move on.
Daniel Dubois knocked out Joshua in his last fight as he missed out on becoming a three-time heavyweight champion. Joshua was a massive favorite. But the fight could not have gone much worse for him. He was sent to the canvas in the first round after which he never recovered. Three further knockdowns followed as Dubois got Joshua out of the ring in the fifth round to retain his IBF Heavyweight Title.
His trainer, Ben Davidson, was criticised based on the corner work in the fifth round. Before the round started, Davidson was heard telling Joshua to use his uppercut. Froch did not approve of that as it left Joshua open. Just before Joshua was actually stopped, he found success with successive right hands. However, he ultimately opened himself up by looking for the uppercut, leaving his chin exposed. That is when Dubois responded by landing a brutal counter right hand to end proceedings.
Froch has now looked back at Joshua’s training setup with much criticism. He feels that the former Unified Heavyweight Champion has not improved since leaving Rob McCracken. Froch became a four-time champion and former unified super middleweight champion under his time with McCracken as he talked up the former trainer.
Since Joshua left McCracken, he has had several trainers. He teamed up with Robert Garcia for the Oleksandr Usyk rematch. However, their relationship ended after just one fight. Joshua then relocated to the United States to team up with Derrick James. James is known for working on boxing fundamentals, which fighters often go to him for. However, the pair only had two fights together against Jermaine Franklin and Robert Helenius before they ended their working relationship.
Froch Reacts
James did not disclose the reasons why he had parted ways. However, reports indicated that Joshua was not doing enough in camp. Since teaming up with Davidson, there was hope that Joshua had turned the corner. He stopped Otto Wallin and Francis Ngannou in their first two fights together. But looking back, the opposition level they faced was not at the elite level. Froch has now has called on Joshua to make major changes in his camp.
“Ben Davison wanted AJ to look for the uppercut, which is a dangerous punch. When you throw an uppercut out at range, you leave your chin exposed. That was the reason he lost that fight and got a bad knockout. For me, he’s [Joshua] gone backwards. He’s not getting any better. He’s had four gimme fights, and now he’s gone in with a lively opponent in Daniel Dubois, who can bang.
“That’s why the [instructions to throw an uppercut] in round five was a stupid idea. He’s gone backwards since he left Rob McCracken, and if he’s going to go forward and come back and have a rematch with Daniel Dubois, then I don’t think he’s got the right team around him. He needs a big shakeup in the team,” Froch said
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