Skip to content

Anthony Joshua's next opponent should be Dereck Chisora, says Carl Froch

02 BOXING .02 ARENA,LONDON.PIC; LAWRENCE LUSTIG.heavyWEIGHT .DERECK CHISORA V JACOV GOSPIC

So who should Anthony Joshua face next? Well if it was down to Carl Froch, there is only one man to give the new British heavyweight the right sort of tests...

Book the repeats
Book the repeats

Watch Joshua vs Whyte and the best of the rest all day Sunday

There is only one name that leaps out when it comes to who Joshua fights next and that is Dereck Chisora.

I think the two heavyweights, who both did their bit in a great night at the O2, should fight each other next.

We've seen him take Vitali Klitschko to 12 rounds, we've seen him take on Tyson Fury twice and against David Haye, he was in there until he got ironed out in the fifth.

Don't forget Chisora has now boxed twice in a week, so imagine if he is told he is going to fight Joshua next, he will have more time, eight or 10 weeks training, and we know he will turn up.
Carl Froch

Those fights alone show his experience and what he can do and at least now he is back down into the domestic level - that makes him more of a threat, and just the right man to give Joshua another proper test.

Don't forget Chisora has now boxed twice in a week, so imagine if he is told he is going to fight Joshua next? He will have more time, eight or 10 weeks training, and we know he will turn up.

Anthony Joshua celebrates victory over Dillian Whyte
Image: Anthony Joshua needs another test before he moves into the world-title elite

Fighting him will be a great gauge on where AJ actually is. He got caught a couple of times by Dillian Whyte and he was far from vulnerable but what he did show is that he is human.

Also See:

No boxer, certainly no heavyweight boxer, is unbeatable and one punch can turn it all around and that in itself is a threat going in with Chisora, but his record, his know-how and his approach are a few more of Joshua's boxes that need ticking.

But other than Chisora it is difficult to see who you put him in with next. I defended my British title three times before moving on but here and now, I couldn't come up with another three, decent challengers for Joshua, our new British champion.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Joshua feels Dereck Chisora would prove a good opponent for his next bout

The problem is in today's heavyweight division, the three or four at the top are good but the rest - and I mean the rest - aren't any good. At all. It's a shame.

There is the new champion Tyson Fury and then there's the man he beat, Wladimir Klitscko and one or two others but remember the days we had Mike Tyson, Lennox Lewis, Evander Holyfield? We are nowhere near that generation.

I am not saying Joshua wouldn't win against Chisora but he is the perfect man to try and pick more holes. Had we seen a wild, overly-aggressive Joshua, you could easily keep him away from Chisora for now, but on what I saw against Whyte, that is the best match out there next.

Dereck Chisora, Lawrence Lustig
Image: Chisora is the perfect test for Joshua next, says Carl Froch

Joshua stuck to a gameplan and was boxing clever. He was always doing what he needed to do to win the rounds and he knew he was going to win.

He looked dominant, calm and in control and that is what I wanted to see from him. At one stage I thought we were heading for another wipeout in the first couple of rounds but it never happened.

By the time he got into three and four it was new territory for him and even the basic oxygen he needed was something he'd not been tested on. That in itself could've brought on stress but he came through it and he will be so much better for it.

Around Sky