‘You don’t want it anymore’ fumes Carl Froch as he reignites bitter feud with Anthony Joshua after Daniel Dubois KO
CARL FROCH reignited his bitter feud with Anthony Joshua after giving a damning assessment of his performance against Daniel Dubois.
AJ was floored FOUR times before a brutal right hand in round five closed the show in front of a British-record 98,000 at Wembley.
Joshua picked himself up from the canvas every time until he simply could no more – but still Froch was critical.
He said on his YouTube channel: “Anthony Joshua got absolutely battered from pillar to post.
“He walked to the ring and he looked nervous. He didn’t look confident. Daniel Dubois was smiling and enjoying himself.
“From round one Joshua was getting peppered with the jab, he was on his back foot, he was bolt upright, rigid, doing everything wrong.
“He was being pushed around the ring and bullied, Dubois came in like a world champion.
“He didn’t recover from those shots. He lacked ambition, he lacked self-belief and confidence.
“His powers of recover are terrible, he looked exhausted. I question Anthony Joshua’s desire to be in that boxing ring anymore.
“Everything was wrong. By round five he looked like he’d ran out of ideas, he looked like a beaten man.
'Are you not entertained? I'm a gladiator' - What Dubois and Joshua said after brutal fight
DANIEL DUBOIS annihilated Anthony Joshua’s dream of becoming a three-time world heavyweight champion, writes Wally Downes Jr.
Joshua was floored FOUR times as Dubois landed an astonishing fifth-round knockout in front of a record 96,000 Wembley crowd and millions of TV viewers to retain his IBF belt.
AJ, 34, never recovered after being downed in the first round of last night’s Battle of Britain showdown as a huge Dubois right-hand haymaker caught him flush on the chin.
Here’s what they said after the fight:
DANIEL DUBOIS
“Are you not entertained? I’m a gladiator, a warrior to the bitter end. This is the biggest win of my career. I couldn’t let this opportunity go and now I want to go to the top level of this game.
“I’ve been on a roller-coaster ride and this is my time. I’m not gonna stop until I reach my full potential.”
ANTHONY JOSHUA
“As p***ed off as I am, it is what it is.
“I had a sharp, fast opponent and there were a lot of mistakes from me. Credit to my opponent and his team.
“We rolled the dice and came up short. You know I’m p***ed but I’m going to keep cool and give respect to my opponent.”
FRANK WARREN (DUBOIS’ PROMOTER)
“It was a phenomenal fight, like Hagler v Hearns.
“A brilliant fight and everybody has seen a champion’s performance tonight.
“Daniel has shown his courage, his skills.
“AJ caught him with a shot towards the end and I was worried, but what a fabulous, fantastic fight.”
EDDIE HEARN (AJ’S PROMOTER)
“AJ shipped a huge right hand in the first round and was fighting on heart.
“He hurt Daniel at the end of the fourth and then again in the fifth, but got greedy and walked on to a right hand and that’s all she wrote.
“I’m sure Anthony will exercise the rematch clause.”
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“Let’s be fair to AJ he came out in round five and had a go, almost like a last hurrah.
“I don’t think AJ wants it anymore, he shouldn’t be boxing. That performance was weak.
“What next for AJ? I don’t even know. This could be see the last we see of Anthony Joshua. I just can’t see a future for Anthony Joshua.”
Joshua and Froch were once friends and training partners at Team GB’s Sheffield HQ.
But in retirement, Froch has become an outspoken pundit not afraid to criticise the likes of AJ and Tyson Fury.
Joshua and the former super-middleweight champion exchanged angry WhatsApp messages in the build-up to the Dubois fight.
Although they looked to have put their feud to bed – until Froch’s critical analysis – which fans were quick to slam.
One said: “How can you question his desire he tried everything to continue.”
Another added: “He tried to get up though?
“The same way he kept trying to stay in the fight each time he got hit. Questioning his heart is very stupid..”
Joshua, 34, has a rematch clause with Dubois, 27, and talked down retirement in the aftermath of his one-sided loss.
He said: “Of course I want to continue fighting. We took a shot and we came up short.
“What are we going to do, walk away? We’re going to live another day.”