Joshua was outboxed by Usyk over the course of 12 rounds and has now been accused of not knowing the “laws” of boxing by American heavyweight Michael Hunter
One of Oleksandr Usyk ‘s former opponents has accused Anthony Joshua of not knowing the “laws” of boxing following his loss to the Ukrainian.
Joshua lost his heavyweight titles for the second time in four fights when he was outpointed by Usyk in September. Fans and pundits criticised Joshua’s performance after the Brit tried to out-box Usyk over 12 rounds.
Joshua has since activated the rematch clause and will likely face Usyk again in the spring of next year.
And Michael Hunter, who suffered the first loss of his professional career to Usyk in 2017, thinks Joshua’s gameplan against Usyk shows he doesn’t understand the “laws” of boxing.
“To go out there and try and box a pure boxer was not the best move for him, but I think he can improve in the next fight,” Hunter told Sky Sports.
“It’s funny, because when he was doing his rounds, I was like, ‘I wish he could just take a trip over right where I’m at right now.’ I wish I could be his trainer. “I just think that I would be able to teach him a lot of different things, or show him a lot of different things, because he’s a fighter obviously but I feel like he doesn’t really know the laws of fighting.
“He knows the rules, but I feel like he doesn’t know how to apply the laws of fighting.”
Joshua toured several American gyms last month amid calls for him to sack his coaching team, visiting the likes of Virgil Hunter and Eddie Reynoso’s gyms in California.
But he has insisted he will still work with longtime trainer Rob McCracken unless the coach doesn’t want to.
And Hunter thinks despite Joshua’s recent loss he can only improve as a boxer.
“A lot of these guys, we can use Andre Ward for example. He’s not the most talented person, but he’s very strategic in what he does,” he continued.
“We all know it’s a learning curve for Anthony Joshua. He’s continued to grow since the Olympics. He’s only getting better. “I think he’ll do well. It’s a good opportunity to get his revenge.”
Joshua’s domestic rival Tyson Fury and his trainer SugarHill Steward have also offered to train him for his upcoming fight.
‘AJ’ was signed to fight Fury before facing Usyk, but Fury was ordered to fulfil his trilogy obligations against Deontay Wilder instead.
But Steward says he hasn’t heard from Joshua since offering his services to him. “He hasn’t called me and Tyson yet, my phone is on I just gave you my number here and he has Tyson’s number,” he told Boxing Social.
Mirror UK
