FILIP HRGOVIC said Anthony Joshua was a “beast” until he “started to box too much”.
AJ was beaten for the first time in June 2019, losing in round seven to Andy Ruiz Jr after four knockdowns.
But he reformed his style to outbox Ruiz, 33, in their Saudi Arabia rematch six months later.
Although the same tactics saw him twice lose to Oleksandr Usyk, 36, leaving Joshua, 33, in a must-win return fight this year.
Unbeaten contender Hrgovic, 30, is one of the opponents linked with AJ and the Croatian had a brutal assessment of the Brit.
He told Tru School Sports: “I’m careful not to learn too much and become something that I’m not, take away my advantages.
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“I think that happened to Anthony Joshua. He was a beast.
“He was a knockout artist and then he started to learn too much about boxing and he started to box too much, overthinking.”
Hrgovic narrowly beat Zhang Zhilei, 39, on the undercard of Joshua’s rematch defeat to Usyk in August.
And he is one of the emerging candidates to welcome AJ back to the ring on his proposed April 1 comeback fight.
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But as revealed by SunSport, American Jermaine Franklin, 29, is leading the race.
Franklin was beaten by Dillian Whyte, 34, in November which was a disputed decision Joshua was ringside for.
Southpaws Otto Wallin, 30, and Demsey McKean, 32, who are both ex-sparring partners of AJ’s, are also named in the list.
Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
