IBF heavyweight champion Filip Hrgovic has said Anthony Joshua should retire after his scheduled all-British showdown with Tyson Fury, claiming the former two-time world champion is “psychologically not in a good place”.
Speaking to The Stomping Ground, the Croatian questioned Joshua’s latest coaching change and suggested the former two-time world champion’s problems went far deeper than who holds the pads for him, Geo Super reported.
“Look, Anthony Joshua changed already 20 coaches, so I think it’s not about coaches. I think he’s complicating too much and he lost that confidence in himself. I think psychologically he’s not in a good place and obviously he’s doing this, and if you’re not in a good place with yourself no coach can help you,” Hrgovic said.
“Emanuel Steward or any coach in history or all of them together, it’s not going to help you if you’re not in a good place with yourself, if you don’t have confidence in yourself. It’s not about coaches, it’s about him.”
Joshua has worked with a string of trainers through his career, including Rob McCracken, Robert Garcia and Oleksandr Usyk’s camp, and has reunited with Ben Davison for the Fury camp.
Hrgovic: Joshua should retire “for financial reasons”
Hrgovic went further, suggesting Joshua was taking the Fury fight for the wrong reasons and should walk away once it is over.
“He’s doing this fight for financial reasons, and after this fight he should retire,” he said.
Joshua and Fury faced off at a press conference at the British Airways ARC in London in early October, with Turki Al-Sheikh, chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority, holding the belt between them. The two former heavyweight world champions are scheduled to meet at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium on December 11, with tickets going on sale on October 9 and selling out within an hour.
Fury, meanwhile, has said he plans to invite Donald Trump on his ring walk for the Cardiff showdown.
Joshua sees Fury as “just another fighter”
Joshua, for his part, has played down the occasion. Sitting down with iFL TV before the press conference, he said: “For me, it’s another fighter, someone I’m going to get familiar with because I’m going to be watching them a lot more but, no, nothing surreal about doing what I’m built and what I’m trained to do.”
He also weighed in on the rift between promoters Eddie Hearn and Dana White, who is involved in the Fury fight. “So, my loyalty is with Eddie. There’s nothing against Dana, at all. I don’t know Dana to have anything against him but my honor and loyalty in this situation stands with Eddie Hearn,” Joshua said.
A career of highs and heavy defeats
Joshua’s career has swung between triumph and setback. His first upset defeat came against Andy Ruiz in 2019, a loss he avenged in the rematch. He was then beaten in back-to-back fights by Oleksandr Usyk before suffering a knockout loss to Daniel Dubois.
He responded with a steady run of wins, knocking out YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul and Albanian professional Kristian Prenga within less than a year, setting up the long-awaited meeting with Fury.
Retirement talk has swirled around both men in the build-up — Tyson Fury’s own father has revealed the fight after which he believes Tyson should have retired.
FAQs
What did Filip Hrgovic say about Anthony Joshua?
The IBF heavyweight champion said Joshua was “psychologically not in a good place”, that changing coaches again would not help, and that he should retire after the Fury fight.
Why does Hrgovic think coaching is not the issue?
Hrgovic pointed to Joshua’s long list of trainers and said the problem was lost confidence, adding that no coach in history could help a fighter who was not in the right place mentally.
When is Anthony Joshua vs Tyson Fury?
The fight is scheduled for December 11 at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, with tickets going on sale on October 9.
What is Joshua’s recent record?
After the knockout loss to Daniel Dubois, Joshua knocked out Jake Paul and Kristian Prenga. His earlier defeats include the 2019 upset to Andy Ruiz and back-to-back losses to Oleksandr Usyk.
