Dillian Whyte says Anthony Joshua should have been knocked out in the 12th round when Oleksandr Usyk was teeing off on him in the final fifteen seconds.
The referee Michael Alexander didn’t step in and stop the fight despite Joshua (24-2, 22 KOs) taking massive punishment.
Whyte says Joshua has turned into a “weirdo” lately, and he can’t begin to understand what caused this change.
When Joshua fell behind in the fight last Saturday night, Whyte was surprised he didn’t show a sense of urgency to go on the attack against Usyk. AJ wouldn’t do it, which has some boxing fans believing that his loss to Andy Ruiz Jr. did something to him mentally.
Joshua looks shell shocked
Joshua is no longer the fighter he once was since losing to Ruiz and has adopted this Klitschko fighting style, which he’s not very good at.
“He’s a f**** weirdo; he’s a weird guy. Joshua is a strange guy,” said Dillian Whyte to iFL TV.
Joshua shows the clear signs of a shell-shocked fighter who can’t forget the horrors of what happened to him against Andy Ruiz Jr. in their first fight.
Joshua lost his IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight titles with a 12 round unanimous decision defeat to challenger Usyk (19-0, 13 KOs) at the Tottenham Hotspurs Stadium in London, England.
“I thought Usyk was going to win by a TKO in the last round. They gave Joshua way too much time. He just sagged on the ropes and stood and didn’t do anything,” said Dillian Whyte to iFL TV in reflecting on Joshua’s loss to Usyk.
You got to wonder what the referee had done if that had been Usyk on the ropes in the 12th round instead of Joshua.
Would the referee have stood there watching Usyk take a shellacking without jumping in and halting the fight? Michael Collins believes the referee would have pulled the trigger and stopped the contest, giving A-side fighter Joshua a knockout win.
Joshua showed fear and looked helpless against a fighter he should have been able to smash with his size and power last Saturday. AJ looks like he’s still shell-shocked from what happened to him in the Ruiz fight.
Joshua may not ever snap back to be the fighter he once was, as he’s not showing signs that he’s going to return to his old self.
AJ rambling at the post-fight press conference
The way that Joshua was rambling during the post-fight press conference was disturbing. He was talking about himself as he was another person, and it seemed VERY odd.
At one point, Joshua looked down and seemed to be coming unglued. It’s hard to know what was going through Joshua’s mind at that moment, but he looked like he didn’t want to be there.
“Why is he waiting until the second fight? He should have been putting the heat on him,” said Whyte about Joshua.
“Even in the later stages, okay, you’re eight rounds down, you feel like you’re behind on the scorecards, start having a go. You’re the unified heavyweight champion of the world,” said Whyte.
Joshua could change his style after the First loss of his career. I agree with Dillian white on this one he’s not that same fighter he was before his first loss, Usyk to me is a mini version of Fury and cannot see AJ changing any style to beat either of those, He is now gun shy and mentally fractured even more so. If that was Fury in there Saturday night
AJ would have been stopped.
Absolutely! AJ”s biggest opponent is himself. His fear and lack of confidence from Ruiz loss, has seeped and etched right in his subconscious.
I’m so sad for him. I pity him now. He needs therapy first, before anything else. He needs to find peace and stability from the voices in his head that tell him he’s no good, after losing to Ruiz. Winning Ruiz couldn’t stop those voices, he needs therapy.
Why am I the only person that noticed the final bell was rung 6 seconds early?