British fighting legend Ricky Hatton MBE feels there should be some caution in judging Anthony Joshua’s post-match antics following his loss to Oleksandr Usyk, but has called on AJ’s team to do more.
‘The Hitman’ Hatton spoke to Social boxing about Joshua’s outburst in the ring drew fan protests. In an analysis drawn from experience, he believes that people should not be too quick to criticize warriors
“Boxing is hard and everyone has their say in the situation and I think sometimes, you know, wait a minute, you’ve never been in that situation, you’ve never been in a boxing match. Brother, you’ve never had a boxing match at that level with that pressure. It’s easy to judge when you haven’t done it and haven’t been there yet.”
“I think AJ, when he revisits it, he’ll think to himself ‘Sh*t – I went through a bit of a peak there.’ But your emotions are all in the show – there’s a lot of pressure, a lot of threats. “
However, Hatton went on to point out AJ’s corner – emphasizing that the team should have taken action to prevent that from happening.
“I think his team can do more for him. Because, I mean, he’s stomping on the spot – not saying he’s going to kill someone – but he looks like he’s about to kill someone. He went to the opposition corners and gave it a little heavier than he should have been. Then he threw the belt off the ring and you could see he was getting a little nervous, and I think someone should put their arm around him and go ‘Come on, AJ, let’s get you. back to the dressing room.’
But no, no one does that. They let him continue, rushing up and down around the room. No one comes and whispers in his ear to calm down, you’re done [yourself] proud tonight. “
“It’s about having the right people around you. AJ has good friends around him, family around him, and team 258 did a great job, they also worked with Campbell [Hatton]. I just thought you could see him on the verge of losing it – why wasn’t anyone there to step in? “
“I don’t think that’s Eddie’s job. I think Eddie is the promoter and he’s doing his job, and Eddie is very close to AJ… That team is in the corner – your job is to take care of your boxer. Will they take care of him when the last bell rings? Did they do the right thing? They were f*ck. I don’t think they did. “
After the fight, Joshua, who is in talks to face the next Tyson Furyposted on social media to promise to ‘do better’.
