Anthony Joshua has been accused of having an "inflated ego" after spending the last decade having "smoke blown up his a***".
The two-time unified world heavyweight champion has been one of the biggest names in British boxing since he won an Olympic gold medal at the 2012 London games. But respected trainer Dominic Ingle believes the fame and success that has come with Joshua's career has led him to have an unrealistic sense of himself.
The renowned coach was discussing Joshua in relation to his heavyweight rival Tyson Fury, who has never lost as a professional despite being put down on multiple occasions. He believes that the Manchester native got in his head during recent fight negotiations, with their planned bout falling through at the last minute.
"Tyson’s always going to get into somebody’s head," Ingle told Boxing King Media. "And I think where Anthony Joshua is at the minute – I don’t think he knows where he is. Because when you’ve had people blowing smoke up your a*** for the last ten years, or whatever it is, your ego gets inflated that much you haven’t got a sense of reality. That happens with a lot of fighters.
"The thing with Tyson is, Tyson has got a sense of reality, because he’s been to the bottom, and he’s been to the top and back to the bottom, and then back to the top. He comes from a travelling background, that’s as real as it gets. You’re fighting on caravan sites. You’re fighting street fights. Your families are fighters. Your brothers and sisters are fighting. Your kids are fighting. That’s the reality of it. That’s a proper tough education in fighting.
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"Obviously Tyson’s mentally getting the top side of Anthony, and putting the comments out there getting him to question himself. Dismissing his career that [he’s] never fought anybody. That’ll do two things, it’ll either ruin Anthony in the sense that he won’t want to take the fight, or it’ll fuel him up thinking ‘I’m going to prove him wrong.’ Maybe that’s what Tyson wants."
Instead of Fury vs Joshua this weekend, fans are instead hav ingto shell out a record UK pay-per-view price to watch the world heavyweight champion face Derek Chisora at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Fury has already beaten Chisora twice in their earlier careers and is a long odds-on favourite for the trilogy.