ANTHONY JOSHUA was ‘gun-shy, negative and lacking ambition’ against Oleksandr Usyk.
That is according to fellow Brit Dillian Whyte who let rip at AJ after his points defeat to the Ukrainian in London on Saturday night.
Joshua failed to make use of his 18lb weight advantage over former cruiserweight king Usyk, who landed a barrage of heavy southpaw shots throughout the bout at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium.
The Ukrainian finished with a flourish in the final rounds to put the result beyond doubt and seal the unanimous 117-112, 116-112 and 115-113 win at the new White Hart Lane.
Joshua admitted afterwards he could not see out of his right eye from the ninth round onwards.
But Whyte reckons the Brit should have won the fight well before then and could have done so if he had been braver.
The Body Snatcher told BBC 5 Live: “I said if Joshua tried to box he was always going to lose.
“If he had come out and bullied him and pushed the pace and let his hands go he could have knocked him out in the first even round.
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“But he came out and was being too negative, he seemed like a gun-shy fighter. You are the bigger man, have a go.
“I don’t know, he lacked ambition in the ring there tonight.
“The first round, Usyk landed the first strong blow and Joshua was a negative fighter.
“He got tagged with a left and he was worried the whole time.”
After the fight, Eddie Hearn warned AJ he must trigger the Usyk rematch clause immediately or risk NEVER winning belts back again.
Meanwhile Whyte faces Otto Wallin at the O2 on October 30 – a bout he is expected to win.
And the Brixton scrapper said he would go toe-to-toe in a ‘shoot-out’ with Usyk if he ever got the chance.
He added: “I have to go through Wallin first, after we will see.
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“But I tell you what, I will not be losing to an overall decision like that, I can tell you that now.
“I will go out and I will have a shoot-out – if I get knocked out, I get knocked out.
“But I will have a shoot-out, I am not getting out boxed over 12 rounds like that, no chance.”
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Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
