Former two division world champion Paulie Malignaggi believes heavyweight contender Anthony Joshua is now past his best.
He feels the skills are still there, but doesn’t see the killer instinct in the former two-time world champion.
Joshua was back in the ring in April, when he picked up a tough twelve round unanimous decision over Jermaine Franklin.
Malignaggi saw Joshua going a little too easy on Franklin.
“Joshua is kind of getting past it, not in terms of skills, I think Joshua still has the skills at this age, but I think in terms of the willingness to bite down and be in a tough fight. I saw Joshua trying to cruise past Franklin and just understanding that as long as you get a win, you remain relevant,” Malignaggi said to Betway.
“And it was sort of an approach that I had late in my career as well – If you can get a cheap win then you can remain relevant because your name is already so big so you’ll fall into a big money fight. It doesn’t matter how good you look because you’ll be able to get one or two more cash grabs. I saw Joshua with that same mentality where he didn’t want to risk looking tremendous, but he was just trying to do just enough to win without risking himself.”
There is talk of Joshua returning to the ring for an interim-fight in the summer.
However, there is also another scenario being discussed – where Joshua could face former WBC world champion Deontay Wilder in December.
Malignaggi would advise Joshua to go straight to Wilder – in order to avoid the possibility of a shock defeat in a summer bout.
“I think go straight into Wilder because when you are put in these kinds of interim fights, you’re always at risk of getting beat when you have this kind of psychology. You get a guy who you’re supposed to beat, but on that night he’s extra motivated and he’s just fighting much harder. He might out hustle you, or hurt you. In the heavyweight division everybody’s a big puncher,” Malignaggi said.
“I don’t think AJ can mentally straighten things out at this point because once it’s past you – you’re comfortable and you’re good – I don’t think you can go back into that ferocious mindset because that mindset itself is fed by hunger – the desire to have more and be more – and I think AJ has already done so much I don’t think he’s looking to chase that anymore.”