Three disappointing things about the Anthony Joshua knockout

As a sports fan, the one thing you would like to absolutely avoid is to see your heroes getting humbled. I went through the misery of Indian team's collapse in the 2023 World Cup final, then watched Rafa getting pulverized at Roland Garros and have now witnessed Daniel Dubois batter Anthony Joshua at Wembley. So here are three disappointing things about the Anthony Joshua knockout:

What's most disheartening about this fight is the way it started. AJ never looked like he was in his elements. He was on the backfoot from the get go and once Dubois' punch landed at the end of the first round, he never found his legs in the next few rounds. This was totally unexpected from a thorough professional like Joshua who's known to meticulously prepare for all of his fights

If the match began with adversity, things started looking up for AJ by the time the 5th round started. He hurt Dubois with a right and set him up for an uppercut by backing him into the ropes but like a lot of other things in this match, the execution was quite not up to the mark. Dubois saw through the plan and knocked AJ out with a thunderous right of his own. AJ, to his credit tried to make it to his feet before the ominous 10 count but this was not his night to script a comeback from the brink. The fact that things were looking up before they were snuffed out so suddenly was another heartbreak for the night

Finally the road to the undisputed title just got a lot longer for AJ. In 2018, with an unblemished record and the boxing world at his feet, his inability to come to terms with Deontay Wilder for a historic undisputed title fight proved cataclysmic. Both fighters lost titles to superior foes and were never the same again. Since then, every time AJ rebuilt himself he always seemed to be one step away from the ultimate glory.

In the aftermath of the fight, AJ did announce he was going to continue but we will never know if his best days are behind him, There's a lot of talk going on about whether he should really retire and his tarnished legacy. My two cents, AJ should just do what his heart really tells him to do. Wherever he goes next, he has already given his followers a lot of stories to share and recollect. Those tales of triumph will shade this loss as the time passes by.

Until next time.

Your heavyweight boxing fan.

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