Anthony Joshua, the British heavyweight champion, has been accused of taking his eye off the ball and not being fully dedicated to boxing due to his numerous sponsorships.
The criticism comes from former world champion Carl Froch, who believes that Joshua’s focus has been diverted away from the sport due to his many commercial deals.
“I think he’s taken his eye off the ball a little bit,” Froch said. “He’s got a lot of sponsorships and endorsements and he’s doing a lot of things outside of boxing.”
Froch believes that Joshua’s focus should be solely on boxing and that he should be putting in the hard work in the gym to ensure he is in the best shape possible for his fights.
“He needs to be in the gym, he needs to be training hard, he needs to be focused on boxing and not on the other stuff,” Froch said. “He needs to be fully dedicated to boxing and not distracted by the other stuff.”
Joshua has been involved in a number of high-profile commercial deals in recent years, including a partnership with Under Armour, a clothing line with JD Sports, and a sponsorship deal with Beats by Dre.
The 30-year-old has also been involved in a number of charity initiatives, including the Anthony Joshua Foundation, which helps disadvantaged young people in the UK.
Joshua’s last fight was a seventh-round stoppage of Kubrat Pulev in December 2020, and he is now set to face Tyson Fury in a highly-anticipated heavyweight unification bout later this year.
Froch believes that Joshua needs to be fully focused on boxing if he is to have any chance of beating Fury.
“He needs to be in the gym, he needs to be training hard, he needs to be focused on boxing and not on the other stuff,” Froch said. “He needs to be fully dedicated to boxing and not distracted by the other stuff.”
Joshua has been a world champion since 2016 and has defended his titles successfully on seven occasions. He is widely regarded as one of the best heavyweight boxers in the world and is a huge draw for fans.
However, Froch believes that if Joshua is to remain at the top of the sport, he needs to be fully dedicated to boxing and not be distracted by his many sponsorships and endorsements.
“He needs to be focused on boxing and not on the other stuff,” Froch said. “He needs to be fully dedicated to boxing and not distracted by the other stuff.”