Anthony Joshua’s legacy as a top British heavyweight is never under question. However, his Hall of Fame credentials are constantly under scrutiny.
None more so than this week as Joshua takes on Robert Helenius at the O2 Arena in London this Saturday night, live on DAZN. Joshua cannot afford to lose with his achievements up in the air. If he does, his career ends in a whimper.
According to Tyson Fury’s promoter Frank Warren, Joshua is vulnerable and could get knocked out by any heavyweight at the moment. That includes Helenius, despite Deontay Wilder mashing him up in a round.
Speaking to William Hill’s podcast, Up Front with Simon Jordan, Warren gave a damning verdict on the career of AJ.
“Joshua is liable to get beaten by anybody at the moment. If anybody hits him on the chin, he will go,” Warren told Jordan.
“When you watch him now, as he’s throwing a shot – and he’s a big puncher, he’s pulling back and away. He wants to get out of range and is terrified of the counter.”
Anthony Joshua’s acheviements questioned
Continuing on a fight with Tyson Fury, Warren put the ball in Joshua’s court, eluding to the fact it was the Londoner who backed away from a UK super-fight.
He also pointed out that going up against Jermaine Franklin and Helenius was doing a disservice to the British public [despite promoting Fury vs Chisora III].
“If I were Anthony Joshua’s promoter, I’d make him fight Tyson Fury,” stated Warren. “I even would’ve put him in against Fury two months after he fought Oleksandr Usyk.
“He didn’t take a beating in that fight. It may have been psychologically damaging for Joshua, but he has been psychologically gone for a couple of years.
“You wouldn’t particularly want to see Joshua in the ring against Usyk again. So if he’s not going to fight Usyk, the man with most of the belts, and he doesn’t want to fight the holder of the WBC belt, Tyson Fury, then what does he want to do?
“Does he think he’s going to get any better to be able to take these guys on? That’s what they’re trying to sell, and they’re selling bull***t.”
Fury doesn’t need AJ
Considering Fury’s future ahead of a pointless fight with Francis Ngannou, Warren said “The Gypsy King” is defined with or without Joshua.
“I don’t think beating Anthony Joshua is a career or legacy-defining fight for Tyson Fury,” said the Hall of Famer.
“I don’t agree with the idea that he has to fight Joshua because he is a two-time heavyweight champion of the world. That’s like comparing it to when Larry Holmes fought Mike Tyson.
“Holmes was a great fighter in his time, but he was a 41-year-old.
“Tyson Fury went and beat Wladimir Klitschko in Berlin and opened up the heavyweight division. He fought Klitschko eighteen months before Joshua did, and Klitschko had Joshua on the floor in that fight.
“Joshua has had the crap kicked out of him in the past few years. In his last six fights, he has lost three.
“He’s not a legacy-defining fight. Usyk is. If Fury wants to continue fighting, then fights against all of Joshua, Usyk, Zhilei Zhang, and Joe Joyce will be made.”
