To many, it was not a knockout; it was a statement. It was a knockout that declared, at least to a good degree, that Anthony Joshua had cast aside the demons. Beginning with the Andy Ruiz Jr. loss, the last three years have been anything but encouraging for the former heavyweight champion. Two defeats in a row at the hands of Oleksandr Usyk only served to fuel the fire of his detractors. The unimpressive win over Jermaine Franklin in April further fanned it.
Thus, the seventh-round knockout of Robert Helenius on August 12 helped him to a great measure douse the heat and smoke. Even the techniques he deployed in recent fights appear to be gaining some traction. They appear to have resonated so deeply with Conor McGregor that he has begun passing it on to his son. He shared a video of his son practicing the combo ‘AJ’ used to knockout Helenius through his Instagram account two days ago. Later, a happy Joshua also uploaded it to his Instagram story.
So ‘The Notorious’ wrote that he and his son Conor McGregor Jr. were trying a hand at the Anthony Joshua knockout combination. He said, “Jab the head, jab the body, back hand finish up top to the head. All we see all day lately in the boxing realm is the jab to the body followed by the back hand to the head, and with great success too.” More so, its efficacy is particularly strong when used against an opponent who has adopted a similar stance.
McGregor could be heard instructing his son, “Jab the head, jab the body, backhand. Now try to, try sink it in. I don’t want to slip it off…don’t want the punch to slip off; I want to sink in…” He called it a very straightforward and rudimentary technique. As the video showed, McGregor instructed the junior to try the technique in both southpaw and orthodox styles.
By 2018, Anthony Joshua was ruling the world. His 22nd consecutive win made him the unified Heavyweight champion. But on June 1, 2019, Andy Ruiz Jr. ruined the party. But six months later, he regained ground, defeating the American boxer to become a unified champion a second time. However, he could barely hold it. After a title defense in 2020, Oleksandr Usyk handed him his second career defeat and took away all the belts. ‘AJ’ tried wresting it from the Ukrainian, but met with failure again.
Per the available reports, Anthony Joshua’s fight with Deontay Wilder appears to be hanging on the fence. However, the fans need not be disappointed. ‘AJ” could return for a third fight, possibly by December, if the Wilder fight gets pushed back to 2024. Thus, overall, it seems like things are looking brighter for Joshua.
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