ANTHONY JOSHUA has been ranked outside the top three heavyweights in the world by Carl Froch.
Joshua returns on Saturday against Jermaine Franklin following double defeat to Oleksandr Usyk in the space of 11 months.
But it was actually AJ's first ever loss, to Andy Ruiz Jr in June 2019, which Froch believes took the most toll on his career.
The former super-middleweight world champion rated his top five heavyweights in the world, putting Joe Joyce, 37, at No5.
But just behind him was Joshua, 33, as retired Froch, 45, explained his decision to leave AJ out of the top three.
He said on his YouTube channel: "I think he has had a great career. It started off brilliantly, he beat Dillian Whyte, showed tenacity and aggression.
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"To then climb off the canvas against Wladimir Klitschko at Wembley, that was an amazing win.
"From then he went on and on before unfortunately losing against Andy Ruiz Jr.
"That loss took a part of his soul, destroyed him and made him nervous.
"He got a win in the rematch and outboxed him but it wasn't a performance that convinced me he believes in himself.
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"He was fighting scared, on his back foot."
Joshua is fighting to save his career against Franklin, 29, as Froch added: "He has got to find his feet.
"We all expect him to beat Franklin next but let's see how he does it before we make too much judgement."
Froch finished off his list with Deontay Wilder, 37, at three, Usyk, 36, second and Tyson Fury, 34, leading the way.
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