It is often said that a large part of boxing success comes from a strong mindset.
No fighter will go through their career without having their mental toughness tested at some point. Even before fighters step into a ring, there can be plenty of mind games designed to unsettle with some fighters being much better at it than others.
Mike Tyson was often said to intimidate his opponents so much before the first bell with his foreboding ring walks that he had them beaten from the off.
Another heavyweight whose mental state has often been in the spotlight is Anthony Joshua. He has shown resilience at times, such as during his fight with Wladimir Klitschko when he dealt well with the first knockdown of his career to come back and secure a historic win.
At other times people have been concerned for him, not least when he threw the world titles out of the ring and ranted on the microphone after his second loss to Oleksandr Usyk in 2022.
Speaking to Best Online Poker Sites, Hall of Fame legend Carl Froch, who’s had plenty to say about ‘AJ’ recently, has now claimed that Joshua is ‘mentally fragile’ and loses every time he steps up to the to level.
“I’ve always said he’s a bit mentally fragile, since losing to Ruiz he had his soul taken away from him that night. He quit, didn’t he. It goes down as a technical knockout, which has never happened to The Cobra by the way. He quit on his feet. I’m not going to hold it against him, he won the rematch.
He’s tried to be great again but he’s realised he’s not at the level, cause every time he gets asked a question and steps up to the level he gets beat. Usyk is a very talented fighter but he’s cruiserweight. Joshua had so much size and strength on him but you’ve got to be brave to use that.”
