Carl Froch has hit out at Anthony’s Joshua performance in last weekend’s victory over Robert Helenius, calling the display ‘terrible’.
Helenius was a last-minute replacement for the bout at London’s O2, after Joshua’s original opponent Dillian Whyte was pulled from the fight following a failed drugs test.
Joshua was victorious is the hastily arranged fight, knocking out the Finnish fighter in the seventh round, however, the clash and his performance drew criticisms from the fans in what was seen as an underwhelming display.
Former middleweight champion Froch was in agreement at Joshua’s display, slamming Joshua’s win and claiming that it wouldn’t have worried the British boxer’s potential next opponent Deontay Wilder.
‘That performance was awful, it was terrible, he was tentative, he was gun-shy.’ Froch told On Fighting.
Anthony Joshua celebrates his win over Robert Helenius at London’s O2 last weekend
Carl Froch has criticised the performance of AJ and says it won’t worry Deontay Wilder
The British boxer faced boos from the crowd before a seventh round knockout of Helenius
‘He’s not rebuilding, he’s not learning on the job. He’s 33 years old and he needs to be getting a move on with good performances.
Deontay Wilder will be watching that performance absolutely licking his lips.’
Before Joshua dispatched of Helenius in round 7, boos and jeers could be heard around the London venue, but after the fight the 33-year-old asked fans to ‘leave him alone’ and rubbished the criticisms over the fight.
The Joshua camp are still hopeful of setting up a January meeting with Deontay Wilder
It’s not the first time Froch has hit out at Joshua, in June, he accused the heavyweight of not working hard enough as he lost his unified title to Oleksandr Usyk.
Claiming that AJ didn’t listen to Froch’s friend and Joshua’s coach at the time, Rob McCracken, who in the end didn’t end up in his corner for the fight after their relationship broke down.
Joshua’s camp are still optimistic about a future fight with Wilder, setting their sights on a mega clash with the American in Saudi Arabia next January.