Anthony Joshua is on an incredible run of form, having won his past four fights, but boxing legend James Toney has criticized him for not facing “real fighters”
Boxing veteran James Toney has publicly ordered Anthony Joshua to “grow some balls”.
Joshua, a former two-time heavyweight world champion, has gone unbeaten in his previous four fights and will attempt to win another world title later this year when he faces Daniel Dubois in his return to the United Kingdom. Oleksandr Usyk is set to have his IBF title revoked so that it can be contested by Joshua and Dubois at Wembley Stadium.
Toney is not a fan of Joshua and does not believe he should face Dubois next. “Anthony Joshua, please get some balls and face some serious boxers. Daniel Dubois, whatever he is, had an easy win. Step up and fight someone for real,” Toney advised Pro Boxing Fans.
When asked who Joshua should fight, Toney replied, “Jared Anderson, perhaps James Toney. Nobody wants to see me, I assure it. Joshua has been chastised for the quality of his opponents, having knocked out boxing rookie Francis Ngannou in March after defeating the likes of Robert Helenius and Otto Wallin last year.
Joshua wants to follow in Usyk’s footsteps by becoming an undisputed heavyweight champion but his dream of fighting for all four world titles could be ruined by Usyk’s plan to move back to cruiserweight. Usyk became undisputed at cruiserweight before moving up to heavyweight and wants to repeat the feat in his old weight class.
“I think maybe after the [ Tyson Fury ] rematch, I want to go down to my weight at cruiserweight. We have spoken about that, go back down to cruiserweight and get undisputed for the second time in that division,” Usyk told Three Knockdown Rule. The Ukrainian has spent most of his career at cruiserweight and has only fought at heavyweight six times.
Joshua’s retirement plan has been laid out by his promoter Eddie Hearn, who thinks ‘AJ’ could hang up his gloves in two years. Hearn wants Joshua to fight either Fury or Usyk for the undisputed belts with a win against Dubois, who handed Filip Hrgovic his first loss in a career-best performance.
