Anthony Joshua has seemed spent and disengaged all through the build-up to his combat in opposition to Jake Paul on December nineteenth on the Kaseya Heart in Miami.
I’ve seen this earlier than from fighters, particularly with the older ones who assume that they’re going to win. They aren’t mentally there and stroll right into a catastrophe.
That Empty AJ Stare Returns
He had the identical indifferent look heading into his first combat with Andy Ruiz Jr. on June 1, 2019, and boy, did that prove dangerous. Ruiz knocked AJ out in seven rounds.
Joshua (28-4, 25 KOs) believes what his promoter Eddie Hearn and all of the backslappers have been telling him: that that is going to be a chunk of cake in opposition to the previous YouTuber Paul (12-1, 7 KOs).
They’ve been telling Joshua how straightforward that is going to be, and he’s believing them. He’s completely forgotten about what occurred to him final 12 months in opposition to Daniel Dubois in his fifth-round knockout loss. He’s clearly not fascinated by that loss to Ruiz, is he?
“I simply don’t imagine he’s going to be within the ring with Joshua with 10-oz gloves on,” mentioned Tony Bellew to iFL TV about Jake Paul being overmatched in opposition to Anthony Joshua. “When he touches him for the primary time with 10-oz gloves on, he’s going to get the fright of his life.
Bellew’s False Confidence
The commentator Bellew is a textbook instance of the many individuals who’ve made Joshua assume that is going to be a straightforward combat for him. They nonetheless assume AJ is the younger, spry fighter he was when he rolled off the meeting line in 2013, when he first turned professional. He’s previous now, at 36, and bodily, he might be quite a bit older because of the punishment he’s absorbed.
Bellew doesn’t wish to imagine that Joshua is heading towards a loss. In spite of everything, he’s a buddy, and may’t settle for that AJ obtained previous on him and is about to get taken down by a younger, inexperienced newcomer Paul.
