Carl Froch has assessed Anthony Joshua’s punch resistance after seeing the Brit suffer two knockdowns in the opening round of his clash with Kristian Prenga.
The two heavyweights collided in what was designed as a warm-up fight for ‘AJ’, who had not fought since his sixth-round stoppage of Jake Paul in December.
More importantly, this was his first outing since being involved in a car crash that claimed the lives of his two close friends in Nigeria.
Yet despite him grappling with the psychological scars of that tragedy in December, Joshua was widely expected to dispatch Prenga within two rounds last Saturday.
That he did so was hardly the main talking point, however, as the 36-year-old was forced to climb off the canvas after getting caught with a right uppercut within the first 20 seconds of their contest.
Joshua was then floored a second time in the opening round, before finally orchestrating the result that many had anticipated.
A day earlier, Tyson Fury had gone seven rounds with a 46-year-old Mariusz Wach in Thailand, where he seemed a shadow of his former self but nonetheless emerged victorious without any real bother.
But while the two Brits inch closer towards their long-awaited showdown, Froch has said on his YouTube channel that Joshua should seriously consider hanging up the gloves, believing the former heavyweight champion is ‘shot to bits.’
“Anthony Joshua is f**king shot to bits. Let’s be honest: AJ shouldn’t be anywhere near a ring, let alone inside a ring.
“He came out [and] was a little bit unsure of himself [against Prenga]. Okay, fine, but he’s fit and strong and has trained for however many weeks.
“Once the punch resistance is gone, it’s game over. We’ve seen it with Amir Khan; we’ve seen it with top fighters over the years.
“AJ can’t take a punch. The only caveat is that he’s fighting Tyson Fury, who also looked pretty shocking [against Wach].”
Despite Froch’s calls for retirement, it does appear that Joshua and Fury will square off in the not too distant future.
