Quote Originally Posted by Memphis View Post
Not necessarily. The answer needs to come from within. I've rattled on for years about AJ and identity issues. He needs to now decide how he's going to finish his career. He's got what three fights that matter left, maybe one or two more in and around those fights? The issue is for me that it might be too late. Just echoing what Slim said. I think any dog that was in Joshua seems to have been trained/beaten out of him and I don't know if he has the stomach for it anymore.

The only way he beats Usyk, Fury or Wilder is to fight. If he boxes, the most likely scenario is that he loses all three. Usyk and Fury will box with him. On the outside Wilder probably gets a missile home at some point and it's game over.

There is no option B here. He has to do what comes naturally and fight. I'm just not sure if he can or even wants to.

I agree he doesn't seem to have the eye of the tiger anymore and would like to find out whether that could be changed any by having different people around him. I was watching the fight wondering what Manny Steward would have done with him. I can give Joshua and his team a break for having made the decision to come in light and box. They overestimated his boxing skills and underestimated Usyk, probably on the basis of the Chisora fight. They definitely didn't think there'd be such a difference in how fast their feet were. And once it became clear that there was such a big difference in speed there was no plan B. Joshua took something off his punches and went to the body a little but that was it. And the corner was advising him to keep on keeping on when he was obviously losing. Definitely not a world class performance by his team in this one.

His trainer may have been successful at amateur level but this is a different game entirely. The greatest heavyweights we've ever seen would have struggled if they'd had an amateur hour corner. And Joshua doesn't seem to have the right mental makeup for when things aren't going well. I can't see him changing his team at this point either. Maybe after the next loss.