Anthony Joshua hit the spotlight post-fight once again after another display of erratic behavior.
Joshua defeated American Jermaine Franklin on Saturday night in one of his most drab performances to date and acted petulantly in the aftermath.
On the back of embarrassing himself after losing to Oleksandr Usyk for the second time, AJ polarized audiences with a push on Franklin. He then weirdly hugged his opponent as a bemused crowd looked on.
Anthony Joshua behavior
He got embroiled in a row with Franklin’s team and looked amateurish rather than a two-time world ruler.
One of his British fans said: “Joshua was absolute garbage again. He picked a part-time boxer to KO and failed.
“AJ was a bad-tempered big baby. He knew he had failed to deliver again.
“Let’s hope he actually has to fight a professional boxer like Tyson Fury or Deontay Wilder, and they flatten him once and for all.”
The commenter was right; in his pre-fight prediction, Joshua failed to deliver on what he stated.
“If Franklin possesses certain weaknesses, I’ll be able to exploit them,” said Joshua.
“It has been difficult over the past few fights to exploit people’s weaknesses because they’re very difficult to catch and pin down. But hopefully, I’ll be able to use Franklin’s weaknesses and show some of my old self.
“We put a lot of pressure on ourselves, fighters. Hearing that final bell or the ref count it out is such a high feeling that no amount of money can give you that feeling.
“It’s true. It’s a mad feeling. Each fight is a new chapter, I’d say. Every chapter is so important.”
The former world champion promised to retire if he lost. However, an eeked-out victory means his money train rolls on.
“If Jermaine were to be successful on Saturday night, I’d give him the respect he deserves. I’ll decide if I want to fight on or not.
“I feel like I can make that decision. If I want to continue fighting, I don’t think it’s up to anyone to dictate to me.
“I don’t think anyone can tell me what to do in my career anyway.”
Star falling
Promoter Eddie Hearn will continue to ride the AJ express after stating the fight was a sellout. The Matchroom boss failed to address that Joshua didn’t sell out a 20,000 arena until the day of the battle, something he hasn’t done since he was the British champion.
“It will be a full house at The O2 on Saturday. It’ll be absolutely rammed,” said Hearn.
“It will be buzzing for ‘AJ’s’ ring walk. We’re only five days away now. When he ring walks, check out the energy in that arena. It is going to be electric.”
On viewing the evidence, Joshua’s star is definitely falling.
