JOE JOYCE claimed Anthony Joshua is "ripe for the picking" after regressing as a boxer.
Joyce was left unimpressed by AJ's return win over 12 rounds against Jermaine Franklin – believing he would knock out the pair.
He told Sky Sports: "I'd knock both of them out with their performance the other night.
"I'd definitely force a stoppage on Franklin and Joshua's ripe for the picking.
"Not great but [Joshua] got the job done. He went 12 rounds, I thought he would come with some more firepower and aim to push a stoppage but he wasn't really putting shots together.
"He was [using] single shots and boxed kind of like he did in the [Andy] Ruiz second fight. So it was a little bit disappointing.
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"He seems to have gone, in my opinion, a bit backwards. Hasn't progressed. I think he lacked the combinations but I think Franklin was a tough guy."
Joyce, 37, is currently the WBO mandatory challenger and interim title holder for the belt held by Oleksandr Usyk, 36.
It leaves him in a better position than Joshua, 33, in the title picture.
Joyce said: "That would be his route back in.
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"It would definitely be his way back in because I'm in front of him now, at last, high up the rankings and obviously got the WBO Interim.
"I was always trying to catch up with him but now I've overtaken him, so that's good. That's what I wanted.
"But I haven't caught up to him financially yet so I need to have those big fights."
Joyce and Usyk have fought before in the amateur ranks – with the Ukrainian winning in their World Series of Boxing clash in 2013.
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