Following his two consecutive losses, Anthony Joshua finally secured an important win against Jermaine Franklin last weekend at the O2 arena. For the Briton, this victory came as a much-needed respite after being subjected to criticisms over his previous performances. But despite getting his hands raised, analysts and fans have pointed out the underwhelming manner in which Joshua coasted to victory. Deciding to rely more on his technical superiority, the 33-year-old chose to take control of the fight behind his jabs instead of resorting to an all-out brawl. Naturally, a section of boxing fans felt that it was mildly underwhelming as they expected AJ to make a strong statement on his return.

Chiming in on this was a UFC legend and former champion, who shared similar sentiments about Joshua’s fight. Although he felt that the former WBA champ was cautious in his approach, this UFC Hall of Famer also claimed to understand why he chose to do so.

Anthony Joshua didn’t make a statement claims former UFC fighter

Speaking on his YouTube channel, former UFC middleweight champ Michael Bisping opened up about the heavyweight clash between Joshua and Franklin. The 44-year-old started his analysis with a question right off the bat for his fans. Claiming that AJ needed to make a statement coming off two back-to-back losses, ‘The Count’ asked, “The question is, did he do that?” 

Bisping gave off his answer in the next statement, too; and in doing so, he expressed what a majority of fans felt about the bout.

“I don’t think he did, but he got a win,” he stated.

For Bisping, it all boiled down to the criticism that Joshua was subject to after his losses to Oleksandr Usyk. And he was right in the sense that the 33-year-old had to do something phenomenal to shut down all the haters and detractors to prove that he still belonged amongst the best of the generations.

“The reason he had to make a statement was to remind the world to show everybody all the haters, all the critics; people like Tyson Fury, all the people out there that he still got it that is still one of the very best,” explained Bisping.

Anthony Joshua had a lot to lose as per Michael Bisping

Despite his earlier arguments, the former UFC champion had a different perspective to share as well. Bisping pointed out the fact that the boxing superstar could lose sponsorship deals worth millions if he ended up with another loss in his record.

“Huge sponsors and endorsement; if he lost to Jermaine Franklin on Saturday night, all of that goes away.” he expressed.

Bisping finally emphasized the fact that despite not having won it as impressively as fans wanted him to, Joshua came out and successfully did what he had to.

“Not the most exciting fight. But when you consider the consequences, I get it you know he had to play safe; he had to go out there and get the win. That was more important,” he claimed.

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This was probably the fairest assessment any analyst could come up with for the fight. Yes, Joshua did win and in doing so, he also kept the possibilities of bigger bouts to be set up in the coming future.

Do you agree with Bisping’s analysis of the bout? Let us know in the comments.

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