ANTHONY JOSHUA has been warned off fighting Deontay Wilder next following consecutive losses to Oleksandr Usyk.
Joshua was bettered twice on the spin by Usyk, who won and then retained the unified WBA, IBF and WBO belts.
Meanwhile, Wilder, 37, knocked out Robert Helenius, 38, in round one of his October comeback fight.
His manager Shelly Finkel and trainer Malik Scott have both called for the American ex-WBC champion to fight AJ in 2023.
But boxing legend Roy Jones Jr insisted Joshua, 33, cannot jump into a fight of such magnitude and danger off the back of defeat to Usyk, 35.
He told iD Boxing: “He can’t go into a Deontay Wilder fight after losing two fights to Usyk. That doesn’t make any sense at all.
READ MORE IN BOXING
“Now if you find someone who isn’t quite the puncher that Wilder is, get yourself back and back to winning.
“Then, you can get comfortable to the adjustments that your new trainer will make you make.
“Once you get comfortable with those adjustments then you fight Wilder because hopefully those adjustments have made you better and you’ve got confidence… then you can get in the ring with Wilder because you probably can beat Wilder.
“But if you’re coming off two losses to against Usyk with the confidence being down already… if Wilder hits you, you don’t know.
Most read in Boxing
JOIN SUN VEGAS: GET A FREE £10 BONUS WITH 100s OF GAMES TO PLAY AND NO DEPOSIT REQUIRED (Ts&Cs apply)
“That’s going to be crazy. Wilder is a phenomenal heavyweight; Wilder is one the hardest punching heavyweights in fighting right now.
“Against Wilder, you’ve got to be mistake-proof, you make a mistake with Wilder, and it could be over.”
Joshua is set to return in the spring in a confidence-building comeback fight.
And he is Stateside on the hunt for a new trainer after splitting with Robert Garcia, a role Jones Jr is open to taking.
Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
