Freddie Roach feels Anthony Joshua has been slipping since the Klitschko bout!
Ever since Anthony Joshua’s June 1 loss, boxing pundits from all over the globe have weighed-in on the surprise upset. The unsolicited opinions, advice and condemnations have generally revolved around what they thought led to the defeat and what must be done to avoid another professional catastrophe.
In a recent interview supplied to Fight Hub TV, the future Hall of Fame chief second explained how he thought picking Andy Ruiz Jr in the first place was a major mistake. Its Roach’s belief that Ruiz was a hungry, in-shape boxer who was foolishly overlooked by Team Joshua.
Going a step further, Roach does not only believe that Ruiz was a mistake then, he thinks that the Destroyer will repeat his victorious ways in the rematch.
“You never know when you’re gonna get that call. You never know. And he [Andy Ruiz] got the call at the right time and he was in the gym ready to go. If he was out fuckin’ around and wasn’t ready, he would’ve had to say no to that fight.
“But he was in the gym, he said yes and he was ready to go for it and now we have a new Mexican champion of the world.”
Roach On The Rematch
“Same thing. Because if Joshua doesn’t completely change his ways ever since he fought Klitschko he’s been going downhill a little bit. A lot more muscle, he looks really good and so forth.
“I think he has trouble carrying that muscle and he’s been fatigued in his last couple fights. He’s been getting tired before the end and I don’t think that muscles make fighters. Like ‘oh, he has big biceps so he must punch hard.’ Gimme a break.”
An Offer from Roach
Although his critique may sound harsh, Roach was quick to say that he harbored no ill-feelings toward the former unified champion. In all actuality, Roach honestly has very warm feelings about Joshua.
In fact, he even went so far as to reveal that he would love to work with the muscle bound boxer to help mend his flaw. Realizing how this minor wish might sound, Roach made sure to emphasize that he was not trying break up Team Joshua or steal their fighter.
“I’d like to say he needs a new team and so forth and I’d like to be part of that team because I do like him. He’s a friend, yes. But I’m not trying to steal a fighter [laughs].
“But the thing is, I think he needs to go back to what he did when he won the Olympics, cause that’s when he was a really, really good fighter, in my opinion.”
By: Bakari Simpson
