Carl Froch believes Anthony Joshua has taken a step back in his career since changing trainers Rob McCracken in 2021 following his first loss to Oleksandr Usyk. Froch says Joshua (28-4, 25 KOs) needs a “training group” after losing to IBF heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois via knockout last Saturday night at Wembley Stadium.
AJ Coach, Ben Davisonhe reportedly told him to throw two jabs and an uppercut heading into the fifth round against Dubois (22-2, 21 KOs). Joshua followed that up and was knocked out by Dubois after being nailed with a counter right.
Froch doesn’t need to say it because discarding Ben Davison should be given after that performance. It wasn’t just the instructions given to Joshua heading into the fifth round that were a problem. Since Ben Davison is there the captain of the shiphe is the one who should be fired because he guided Joshua to the cliffs.
It was the icing on the cake. The real problems were:
- Fighting in peace first round: Joshua came out looking nervous in the first, running around the ring and being chased by Dubois. What was Joshua doing in the world? You don’t run away from a slugger like Dubois because he’s faced those types of fighters his entire career, and he knows how to deal with them.
- Integration: AJ had put on some upper body weight during practice, and that weight slowed him down, causing him to bulk up. That was a dumb move.
- Back up with Chin in the air: In the first round, Joshua was backing up with his chin up, almost daring Dubois to tag him.
“Ben Davison wanted AJ to look for an uppercut, which is a dangerous punch,” said Carl Froch on his station, talking about Anthony Joshua’s trainer Ben Davison going to the fifth round of his fight with the IBF heavyweight. Daniel Dubois who is the champion last Saturday night at Wembley Stadium.
This is what Joshua gets by using Davison as his trainer rather than sticking with McCracken as his trainer. AJ should have stayed loyal to McCracken because he did a good job with him. Joshua couldn’t beat Usyk, no matter who his coach was. We saw that when AJ was beaten again, McCracken was no longer with him.
“If you drop the top line in place, it leaves your chin exposed. That’s why he lost that fight and was badly beaten. For me, he [Joshua] he went back. He is not better yet,” said Froch.
Joshua has been around the sport long enough to know that it would be crazy for him to throw a big puncher like Dubois. Ideally, Joshua should have just ignored what Davison told him and did the smart thing by using his jab to punch out. Joshua could have fired him every time after fighting for those orders and found someone good, like McCracken.
“He’s had four gimme fights, and now he’s got a live opponent in Daniel Dubois, who can hit. That’s why the [instructions to throw an uppercut] in the fifth round it was a good idea,” said Froch.
Those four cans of tomatoes that promoter Eddie Hearn fed Joshua after his second loss to Usyk seemed to plant ideas in his head, making him think he could handle Dubois like he did. Such a mistake.
“He’s gone backwards since he left Rob McCracken, and if he’s going to go forward and have a rematch with Daniel Dubois, I don’t think he has the right team around him. He needs a big shake-up in the team,” said Froch.
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