"Ripe for the picking" - Joe Joyce unimpressed by Anthony Joshua's recent win
Joe Joyce was unimpressed with the Anthony Joshua vs. Jermaine Franklin fight over the weekend.
'AJ' returned to the boxing ring on Saturday night in London to face '989 Assassin'. The fight was the former champion's first since his rematch with Oleksandr Usyk last August. In that outing, 'The Cat' handed Joshua his second straight defeat.
Nonetheless, the British star returned to the drawing board and even linked up with a new trainer, Derrick James. The Houston-based coach already trains names such as Errol Spence Jr. and more. However, Joshua's first fight under James was less than impressive.
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@anthonyjoshua wins over 12 rounds against a game Jermaine Franklin π
#JoshuaFranklin | @WilliamHill https://t.co/QPtvyggPp0
Ultimately, Anthony Joshua picked up a unanimous decision win over Jermaine Franklin. However, many weren't impressed. The fight itself was lacking in action, as Joshua was much more hesitant than in other outings.
The fight definitely didn't impress fellow heavyweight contender Joe Joyce. 'Juggernaut' is slated to face Zhang Zhieli on his return later this month, and has called out Joshua multiple times. In a recent interview with Sky Sports, he stated:
"I'd knock both of them out with their performance the other night. I'd definitely force a stoppage on Franklin and Joshua's ripe for the picking. Not great but [Joshua] got the job done. He went 12 rounds, I thought he would come with some more firepower and aim to push a stoppage but he wasn't really putting shots together. He was [using] single shots and boxed kind of like he did in the [Andy] Ruiz second fight. So it was a little bit disappointing."
Anthony Joshua vs. Jermaine Franklin: 'AJ' defends his performance
Following his win, Anthony Joshua attempted to defend his performance.
While the victory wasn't the greatest thing to watch, he got the job done. However, Joshua was likely aware before he even left the arena that many fans weren't impressed with his bout.
In the post-fight press conference, the former champion stated that while his performance wasn't as dominant, he still won. Joshua also noted that if Mike Tyson could go to decision, so could he.
Granted, he was wrong about which fights 'Iron Mike' went to a decision, but Tyson still did win five throughout his career. In the post-fight press conference, Anthony Joshua stated:
βItβs a fight, donβt get me wrong. Itβs a sport where you take people out, but Iβll be honest with you, Mike Tyson went 12 rounds with people like Pinklon Thomas and I think it was Tony Tubbs. Whatβs wrong with me going 12 rounds, you know what I mean?β
See his comments below: