Anthony Joshua has looked spent and disengaged throughout the build-up to his fight against Jake Paul on December 19th at the Kaseya Center in Miami.
I’ve seen this before from fighters, especially with the older ones who assume that they’re going to win. They aren’t mentally there and walk into a disaster.
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That Empty AJ Stare Returns
He had the same detached look heading into his first fight with Andy Ruiz Jr. on June 1, 2019, and boy, did that turn out bad. Ruiz knocked AJ out in seven rounds.
Joshua (28-4, 25 KOs) believes what his promoter Eddie Hearn and all the backslappers have been telling him: that this is going to be a piece of cake against the former YouTuber Paul (12-1, 7 KOs).
They’ve been telling Joshua how easy this is going to be, and he’s believing them. He’s totally forgotten about what happened to him last year against Daniel Dubois in his fifth-round knockout loss.
He’s obviously not thinking about that loss to Ruiz, is he?
“I just don’t believe he’s going to be in the ring with Joshua with 10-oz gloves on,” said Tony Bellew to iFL TV about Jake Paul being overmatched against Anthony Joshua. “When he touches him for the first time with 10-oz gloves on, he’s going to get the fright of his life.
Bellew’s False Confidence
The commentator Bellew is a textbook example of the many people who have made Joshua think this is going to be an easy fight for him.
They still think AJ is the young, spry fighter he was when he rolled off the assembly line in 2013, when he first turned pro. He’s old now, at 36, and physically, he could be a lot older due to the punishment he’s absorbed.
Bellew doesn’t want to believe that Joshua is heading toward a loss. After all, he’s a friend, and can’t accept that AJ got old on him and is about to get taken down by a young, inexperienced newcomer Paul.
