Heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk thinks recent criticism of his former opponent Anthony Joshua is unjust.
Joshua was slammed by fans for his performance against Jermaine Franklin in April as the Brit won an unconvincing decision to pick up his first win in over two years. 'AJ' was on a two-fight losing skid heading into the bout as he lost his heavyweight titles to Usyk in September 2021 and failed to win them back in their rematch last August.
Usyk has now come to the defence of Joshua as he told Boxing King Media:“I think [Joshua] just needs a little more time to recover. He’s a great fighter and a great personality. Who are those people who judge him? Who are the judges? Have they ever entered the ring? Have they ever trained and felt that pain? They have no right to say so.”
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The Ukrainian told fans who are criticising Joshua to step into the ring themselves, adding: "If you want to talk about the fighter, you have to at least once in your life get into the ring and get a sparring session. At least for one round, for three minutes. Then you will have the right.”
Usyk was expected to face Tyson Fury in an undisputed heavyweight title fight on April 29, but the fight fell through and he will now defend his WBA belt against mandatory challenger Daniel Dubois in August. Joshua has been linked to a rematch against domestic rival Dillian Whyte, but 'AJ' denied the fight talks in a bizarre social media rant that he later deleted.
"I don't know about any talks to fight Dillian Whyte," he wrote. "Everyday. AJ this, AJ that, AJ's hairline going way back but I'll still f*** your girl go retweet that." Joshua then posted a picture of him alongside rapper Stormzy with a caption that read: "AJ's this, AJ's that. AJ says: 'F*** off."
The Instagram posts were quickly deleted by Joshua, but not before they caught the attention of Whyte as he responded: "How’s about you stop being a b**** and let’s make the fight you f****ng weird guy always talking s*** tweeting stuff then deleting be a man you little b****," Whyte tweeted in response to Joshua's deleted posts. Whyte doubled down on his rematch calls to Joshua by also stating in an Instagram video: "Let's f****ng have it, let's have it you c***."
