Eddie Hearn believes Anthony Joshua is being too hard on himself, blaming himself for his second defeat against Oleksandr Usyk in 2022.
Of course, the British-Nigerian has now lost back-to-back to the Ukrainian. However, his promoter disagrees with him as regards his performance in the rematch.
Anthony Joshua is now winless in his previous two fights. His last victory was in 2020 against the Bulgarian, Kubrat Pulev.
Actually, Eddie Hearn believes that the British-Nigerian heavyweight boxer was supposed to win the fight regarding the first nine rounds.
On the contrary, Oleksandr Usyk stepped up in the last three and bagged a victory in August 2022.
Joshua’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, told Boxing ID:
“I thought he performed very well against Usyk in the second fight. Still could’ve done more, but after nine rounds I think he’s winning the fight.”
“And then Usyk closes out unbelievably and was brilliant. But he felt it was a disaster, and I keep saying to him, ‘You did all right. You lost 115-113 to pound-for-pound No.1. Forget the first fight – tactics wrong. And you still could’ve done more.”
In all fairness, the British-Nigerian 2-time heavyweight champion wasn’t a disaster against the Ukrainian.
He dazzled impressively in the first 9 rounds. Of course, he was in shambles in the first fight, but was brilliant in the rematch.
For the record, Anthony Joshua was unbeaten from 2012 to 2019, before losing to Mexican, Andy Ruiz.
Since then, his performances have been on a roller-coaster. However, he’s expected to bounce back flawlessly in April.
As a heavyweight champion, losing back-to-back to the same person looks ugly. Nevertheless, his display wasn’t really bad in the rematch.
When is Anthony Joshua next fight?Â
The British-Nigerian boxer is now scheduled to face 30-year-old American, Jermaine Franklin, at the 02 Arena in London on April 1, exactly 19:00 BST.
Anthony Joshua’s recent matches:Â
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Jermaine Franklin’s recent matches:
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The two boxing professionals haven’t faced each other before, talking about their head-to-head matches.
Having lost his last two matches to Oleksandr Usyk. Joshua has the upper-hand to win over Franklin.