Joe Joyce claims that Anthony Joshua has ‘gone backwards’ in his career and that he has now overtaken the two-time world champion in the heavyweight division.
Joyce is adamant that he could knock Joshua out after watching the 33-year-old’s performance against Jermaine Franklin at the O2 Arena last week.
He gave a damning assessment of Joshua’s win over Franklin, saying that AJ lacked combinations and boxed in a similar way to his second fight against Andy Ruiz in 2019.
However, the 37-year-old claims Joshua won’t fight him next as he thinks AJ would prefer an easier bout against Dillian Whyte next time out.
The interim WBO title holder told Sky Sports after Joshua beat Franklin last weekend: ‘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.
Joe Joyce says that he could knock Anthony Joshua out given their respective form
The 37-year-old has held the WBO interim title since beating Joshua Parker in September 2022
Joyce claims that Joshua boxed like he did in the Andy Ruiz fights against Jermaine Franklin
‘He seems to have gone, in my opinion, a bit backwards. Hasn’t progressed.’
Since February, Joshua has been under the guidance of American trainer Derrick James, but hasn’t yet showed any signs of significant improvement from his previous fights.
James replaced Robert Garcia as AJ’s coach earlier this year, but many, including Joyce, believe that Joshua still looks the same as before he entered the new partnership.
Joyce continued: ‘He was [throwing] single shots and boxed kind of like he did in the [Andy] Ruiz second fight. He lacked the combinations.
‘I was always trying to catch up with him, but now I’ve overtaken him. I haven’t caught up to him financially yet, so I need to have those big fights. I’m a threat, and he would prefer that [Whyte fight].’
At 37, time is running out for Joyce to land a big name fighter before he hangs his gloves up for retirement.
With Joshua, Tyson Fury, Deontay Wilder and Oleksandr Usyk showing no interest in fighting Joyce any time soon, it seems a long shot if he is to catch up with AJ in terms of career earnings.
