“Mentally broken” Anthony Joshua told he is not ready for Deontay Wilder fight.
Joshua is expected to face Wilder next after his recent knockout win against Robert Helenius but the “mentally broken” Brit has been told to not take the fight
Anthony Joshua has been told he needs to take at least five or six fights before facing Deontay Wilder.
Joshua and Wilder have been linked to fight for several years but a fight between the former heavyweight champions seems imminent after the Brit’s knockout win against Robert Helenius last month. ‘AJ’ and his promoter Eddie Hearn have insisted terms have been agreed for the mega-fight to take place in Saudi Arabia but talks have come to a halt in recent weeks.
Wilder hasn’t fought since knocking out Helenius in less than two minutes last October, as the win marked his first return to the ring since being brutally knocked out by Tyson Fury in their trilogy fight. German heavyweight Manuel Charr had his say on the mega-fight as he thinks Joshua is a shell of his former self and advised the Brit against fighting Wilder next.
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“Right now Joshua is mentally broken, you can see that. Against Andy Ruiz Jr when he got first knocked out, two losses against Usyk, he looks broken. He needs time. He is not ready for Fury. He needs five or six easy fights to get back to himself. If he fights Wilder next he can stop boxing after that. He is not ready for Wilder or Fury and not ready for me,” Charr told Seconds Out.
“When Wladimir [Klitschko] lost to Corrie Sanders, he changed his style, he was not mentally strong, he was broken, and he waited many years to fight people from the Top 20, Top 10, to get back to where he was at the beginning. He was fighting only bums for three or four years.”
Hearn admitted he is looking at alternative countries to host Joshua vs Wilder after Saudi Arabia delayed negotiations. ‘AJ’ could even take another fight at the end of the year if the fight doesn’t materialise and Hearn explained why talks have been slowing down in a recent interview with Mirror Fighting.
“It’s definitely not dead in the water but it’s slow,” Hearn said. “You see different entities now involved in boxing in Saudi and for us, we’ve already agreed terms for that fight but we’re yet to sign a contract. I’m sure their strategy is moving all my time, but there is a chance it doesn’t happen. I’ve never said there isn’t, but when we were told six or seven weeks ago that this fight is done, we’ve had a lot of confidence that is fact.”
Culled from morror.co.uk
