Former unified world super-middleweight champion, Carl Froch, has warned Anthony Joshua to avoid two of the biggest names in the heavyweight division following his lacklustre showing against Jermaine Franklin. Joshua would claim a unanimous point decision verdict at London’s O2 Arena but would not deliver a knockout which many had expected. Despite this, Joshua now says he will use the result to gather and build momentum and did not waste any time post-fight in stating his intentions in wishing to face WBC world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury.
The fight with Franklin was also Joshua’s maiden fight under a new trainer, Derrick James, switching his training base to Texas in the United States. Anthony linked up with the renowned James following recent splits with Robert Garcia and Rob McKraken in as many fights following back-to-back defeats with Oleksandr Usyk.
Froch, who spoke on his Youtube platform, was not impressed with Joshua’s performance against Franklin. The former unified super-middleweight world champion believes Anthony would “get destroyed” if he faced any of the top-three heavyweights currently and should focus on building his confidence rather than targeting the likes of Fury & Wilder.
“People have asked me tonight, ‘where does he go from here?’ after that performance. Well, I’ll tell you where he doesn’t go, he doesn’t go Deontay Wilder, he doesn’t go Oleksandr Usyk, he certainly doesn’t go Tyson Fury, because the top 3 heavyweights, based on that performance for me would destroy him.
“He needs to up it he needs to get his confidence back. He needs to show us something more than what he showed us there.
I’m not saying he can’t do it, but I don’t know where the motivation will come from and I don’t know where the desire is going to come from. He’s been a world champion, he’s climbed off the floor to defend his title and he’s looked good doing it but since his loss to Andy Ruiz I just think he’s not been that same fighter.”
