Mahmoud Charr believes Anthony Joshua is a “mentally broken” fighter and is just one loss away from calling time on his boxing career.
Charr is the current WBA “regular” heavyweight champion who hasn’t fought this year, and he is not impressed by what he’s seen from AJ recently.
AJ has picked up routine wins over Robert Helenius and Jermaine Franklin in 2023 as he works his way back into title contention after suffering consecutive defeats against WBO, IBF, and WBA “super” champion Oleksandr Usyk.
Charr believes Joshua’s issues date back to his first career loss which came at the hands of massive underdog Andy Ruiz in 2019.
The British fighter avenged the defeat but hasn’t looked the same since.
“Right now, Joshua is mentally broken, you can see that,” Charr told Seconds Out.
“Against Andy Ruiz Jr when he got first knocked out, two losses against Usyk, he looks broken. He needs time. He is not ready for [Tyson] Fury.”
Joshua is currently in talks to fight Wilder. However, negotiations for the heavyweight blockbuster have recently hit a snag, and boxing promoter Eddie Hearn is looking for a new host site.
Charr thinks the fight falling through could be a blessing in disguise for the British fan favoruite who he thinks could be knocked into retirement by Wilder, Tyson Fury, or even himself.
“[Joshua] needs five or six easy fights to get back to himself,” he added.
“If he fights Wilder next, he can stop boxing after that. He is not ready for Wilder or Fury and not ready for me.”
Charr was heavily linked to a fight with Fury last year, but ‘The Gypsy King’ opted to face Derek Chisora in a trilogy bout at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium instead.
While a clash with Wilder remains the priority, Hearn recently claimed his star client may take a stay-busy fight in December if talks drag on much longer.
Perhaps Charr will get the call to defend his belt against Joshua later this year.
