Carl Froch believes Anthony Joshua has gone backwards with his career since changing trainers Rob McCracken in 2021 after his first loss to Oleksandr Usyk. Froch says Joshua (28-4, 25 KOs) needs a training squad “shakeup” after losing to IBF heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois by fifth-round knockout on Saturday night at Wembley Stadium .
AJ’s trainer, Ben Davisonhe said he said he threw two jabs and an uppercut heading into the fifth round against Dubois (22-2, 21 KOs). Joshua followed that lead and was knocked down by Dubois after landing a counter right.
Froch doesn’t need to say why dumping Ben Davison should just be a given after that performance. It wasn’t just the instructions given to Joshua going into the fifth round that was the problem. Since Ben Davison is the captain of the shiphe is the one who should be fired for driving Joshua into the rocks.
It was the icing on the cake. The real problems were these:
- The struggle passively in the first round: Joshua came out with fear in the first, running around the ring and being kicked by Dubois. What the hell was Joshua doing? Don’t run away from a slugger like Dubois because he’s faced these types of fighters throughout his career, and he knows how to deal with them.
- Wholesale: AJ had put on upper body mass during training camp, and that weight slowed him down, making him too muscular. It was a stupid move.
- Backing with Chin in the air: In the first round, Joshua retreated with his chin in the air, almost daring Dubois to cut him.
“Ben Davison wanted AJ to look for the uppercut, which is a dangerous punch,” said Carl Froch on his channelSpeaking of the advance that Anthony Joshua was given by his trainer Ben Davison going into the fifth round of his fight against the IBF heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois last Saturday night at Wembley Stadium.
This is what Joshua gets for using Davison as his trainer instead of sticking with McCracken as his trainer. AJ should have been loyal to McCracken because he had done a good job with him. Joshua had not beaten Usyk, no matter who his trainer was. We saw that when AJ was beaten in the rematch with him, and McCracken was no longer with him.
“When you throw an uppercut out of range, you leave the chin exposed. That’s why he lost that fight and had a bad knockout. To me, he (Joshua) went backwards. It’s not better,” he said Froch.
Joshua has been in the sport long enough to know that it would be crazy for him to throw an uppercut against a huge puncher like Dubois. Ideally, Joshua should have just ignored what Davison told him and done the logical thing by using his jab to box from the outside. Joshua could always fire him after the fight for these instructions and found someone good, like McCracken.
“He’s had four gimme fights, and now he’s going with a lively opponent in Daniel Dubois, who can bang. That’s why (instructing him to throw an uppercut) in the fifth round was a stupid idea,” Froch said.
Those four cans of tomatoes that promoter Eddie Hearn had fed Joshua after his second loss to Usyk seemed to plant ideas in his head, making him believe he could dominate Dubois as he did them. What a mistake.
“He’s gone backwards since he left Rob McCracken, and if he’s going to go ahead 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 bet on the team,” said Froch.
