Boxing

ANTHONY JOSHUA insists sweet dreams in luxury PJs are not making him a soft pillow puncher.Middleweight legend Marvin Hagler famously said: “It’s tough to get out of bed and run at 5am when you’ve been sleeping in silk pyjamas.”
Anthony Joshua has made upwards of £170million during his boxing careerCredit: REUTERS
Boxing fans reckons Joshua’s bank balance and celeb status have made him a soft touchCredit: Getty
The Watford warrior is adamant he’s still the same ruthless fighter heCredit: GETTY
The suggestion is too much money and success takes the hunger and spite out of boxers – especially those that have dragged themselves out of poverty.
Watford’s London 2012 icon has amassed a reported £170million and seemed on the slide since the 2019 loss to Andy Ruiz Jr.
But – ahead of his all-London rematch with Dillian Whyte on August 12 – the two-time heavyweight champ revealed he keeps it stripped back in the bedroom.
“You see me in the same clobber every time I come to a press conference,” he laughed in his trademark black tracksuit.
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“I take it serious. I hate losing.
“But, due to the fact I’ve lost, it gives an element of conversation.
“But, what’s beautiful about sports is there’s always a next opportunity to prove yourself.
“There’s a process that I’m following and I just know that, if we look at history, everything will work out for me.
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“I’m not going to be the first athlete to go through it and I’m not going to be the last. 
“So, I’ve just got to ride the wave, stay consistent and throw them silk pyjamas in the bin.”
Since that shock stoppage loss to the porky little Mexican, AJ has reinvented himself and his team a few times and he is fixated on becoming a more defensive and technical boxer.
Decade-long mentor Rob McCracken and their Team GB base in Sheffield were ditched, a brief move to Loughborough and spells with unproven trainers Angel Fernandez and Joby Clayton failed.
Respected Robert Garcia only lasted one bout – despite it being the Oleksandr Usyk rematch in which Joshua showed improvements on the original loss.
Now he is based in Dallas, Texas, with Derrick James – a trainer celebrated for his aggressive approach – and still trying to overhaul his style at the late age of 33.
Joshua knows a large section of fight fans are baffled by his recent decisions but he believes there is method to his perceived madness.
He said: “Everyone can write you off, but if you believe in yourself and you continue on your journey, 100 per cent you will overcome. It’s just fact. 
“Only you can defeat yourself. Not anyone else. 

“If I give up and say: ‘Yeah, I haven’t got it anymore’, then you can say I’m not the same fighter.
“But I just know this is going to work. 
“If people look at you like you’re crazy, which people probably think I am now – and ask why am I not being aggressive – but I just know what I’m doing is going to work at the right time.”
Opponent Whyte has had his fair share of cornermen too but his all-action style, sharp tongue and fearsome left hook remain the same.
So AJ – who lost to Whyte in the amateurs but got revenge in a 2015 screamer – knows to be aware of his bark and bite.
He said: “Look how many times he’s moved trainers, he’s moved trainers so many times. 
“Maybe he’s not developing at the rate he needs to, or people aren’t teaching him the things he needs to learn and it’s not good enough. He probably knows it himself. 
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“That’s probably why he’s moved trainers so much.
“But one thing that he has got is the fight and in America they call it ‘the dog’. He’s got the dog in him.” More

JOHN FURY is backing Anthony Joshua to knock out Dillian Whyte again. AJ stopped Whyte in seven rounds in 2015, which came six years after losing in their original amateur bout.
Anthony Joshua and Dillian Whyte face off ahead of their rematchCredit: Richard Pelham / The Sun
But on August 12 they look to settle their score at the O2 Arena, in what is a must-win for both.
And John believes it will be a repeat result for Joshua, despite his son Tyson’s rivalry with AJ.
He told Boxing Social via Free Bets Ireland: “I do believe that he is on the slide, Dillian Whyte. I see AJ doing him in sensational style, I see AJ chinning him.
“Dillian Whyte has been a great ambassador for the job, great heavyweight, but he is at the end of his career, he’s had too many good hidings and he doesn’t like left hooks, does he?
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“Or uppercuts. I see Joshua [winning], he’s that bit fresher.”
John and Joshua have a shock admiration for each other, which Fury, 34, called his dad out on last year.
He told iFL TV: “He keeps blowing my dad off like, ‘Oh, I think John Fury’s a legend, he’s a top bloke.’
“Whatever you’ve got going on with him, I don’t like it… sever ties with the old p****. Man’s a p****, s***house.
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“All of a sudden he’s my dad’s best friend, ‘Oh, I want to go out for a drink with John Fury,’ he said.
“I was like what the f***! Why doesn’t he want to go for a drink with me? Because I would punch him in the mouth.”
The hilarious rant came after AJ claimed John would not let Tyson retire without the pair finally fighting.
Joshua said: “I don’t think his dad will let him not fight me. His dad’s a proper guy. I like his dad.”
Tyson Fury with his dad JohnCredit: Stephen Dunkley/Queensberry Promotions More

THIS boxer has fought both Anthony Joshua AND Dillian Whyte in the last year.But he reckons AJ can easily win their upcoming bout thanks to a key reason.
Jermaine Franklin is backing Anthony Joshua to beat Dillian WhyteCredit: Rex
The American has fought both Brits in the last yearCredit: Getty
Joshua and Whyte will collide at the O2 Arena on Saturday August 12.
The duo have already fought each other twice, with the score tied at one apiece.
And next month’s trilogy battle will decide who comes out on top once and for all.
Many boxing fans cannot separate the pair, with AJ and Whyte both proving themselves to be top fighters.
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But American brawler Jermaine Franklin has had the honour of facing them both in the past 10 months, losing both times.
And he reckons Joshua will emerge victorious.
That’s because Whyte’s pattern of play is too predictable.
But Franklin reckons he could yet spring a surprise thanks to his powerful punches.
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Franklin told Boxing Social: “I see AJ winning only because I kind of got adjusted to Dillian’s style early, and it didn’t really change.
“He tried to change it a little bit but he kinda stayed the same. With Anthony, he’s just gonna use his jab a lot.
“If he can get Dillian to the point to where he’s got him kind of stagnant or he’s not doing a lot, the jab will win the fight easy.
“But, at the same time, Dillian does have a couple nice punches that he can throw.
“If he get in there he can do some damage, who knows how the fight may go. But I still think I got AJ coming out on points.” More

CARL FROCH has told Tyson Fury that he has not “done enough” to go into the boxing Hall of Fame.It was confirmed this week that the Gypsy King will face former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou in Saudi Arabia on October 28.
Carl Froch was inducted in boxing’s Hall of Fame earlier this yearCredit: Getty
He says that Tyson Fury has currently not ‘done enough’ to get inductedCredit: Getty
The cross-sport clash will happen under Queensberry rules over 10 rounds and WON’T be for undefeated Fury’s WBC title.
Fury, who has already labelled Ngannou a “big, stiff tramp” that he could KO after downing 15 pints, has got pelters from boxing purists for taking the bout after months of failed negotiations elsewhere.
Fans are desperate to see him in an undisputed decider with WBA, WBO and IBF champ Oleksandr Usyk or an overdue all-English clash with Anthony Joshua.
But the Morecambe showman, 34, insists that he has offered both men lucrative deals and they are the ones to blame for him branching out into big-money freak fights.
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Ex-super middleweight title holder Froch, 46, was inducted into boxing’s Hall of Fame earlier this year.
And he recently told BettingSites that Fury WOULD NOT be joining him in there unless he “dared to be great” and took on the fights that everybody wants rather than these cross-combat ones.
Froch said: “I was inducted for wins. I dared to be great. I took on young unbeaten fighters like George Groves.
“Now that’s a legacy. That’s a career worthy of the Hall of Fame.
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“Does Fury deserve it? A great win against [Wladimir] Klitschko, a trilogy win against [Deontay] Wilder, that’s not enough.
“If he beats AJ, beats Usyk, then yes.”
Going on to explain what he thought merited an induction, Froch added: “There are different rules on whether or not you make it into the Hall of Fame.
“You can go in as a competitor or a participant or something else. You can be a promoter.
“Anthony Joshua for example, what he’s done for boxing, he’s brought it to a whole new audience. He’s followed on from my 80,000 at Wembley Stadium.
“What he’s done for the sport is transcend it and take it to the next level so for that alone you could say that’s a Hall of Fame career.” More