Lennox Lewis has named the two boxers that Anthony Joshua should fight next after a bout with Deontay Wilder went up in smoke.
Former heavyweight champion Lewis has called on promoter Eddie Hearn to stop babying Joshua and give him the fight that he wants and needs.
Joshua has bounced back from consecutive defeats against Oleksandr Usyk with victories over Jermaine Franklin, Robert Helenius and Otto Wallin since last April.
The Brit stopped Wallin in the fifth round on December 23 on the Day of Reckoning in Saudi Arabia.
Lennox Lewis has advised Anthony Joshua on his next fight
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He was expected to fight Deontay Wilder next but the American lost to Joseph Parker on the same night to end hopes of that bout in the immediate future.
Lewis understood the fights against Franklin and Helenius but has hit out at Joshua's team and Hearn for organising the Wallin bout.
He claims the 34-year-old deserves to come up against better opponents, rather than being treated like a 'baby'.
Lewis told Ring magazine: "Joshua lost and he came back against Franklin and Helenius. Everyone is judging him and watching him closely.
"I look at Joshua and I’m like, ‘OK, he’s had a couple gimme fights, he doesn’t need any more gimme fights.’
"He wants to test his skill, give him something. You cannot give scraps to a dog.
"This guy wants to go out there and prove himself. Allow him to, don’t baby him.
"This last guy [Wallin], I don’t know how you’re picking your [opponents].
"[Joshua] sparred with him and he beat him, so he knows how he is and he beat him as an amateur, [his team is like] ‘this is the guy we should fight.’
"No, that’s not the guy you should be fighting because you don’t get respect fighting those guys.
"He needs to be fighting guys people can say, ‘That’s a good guy. You’re back on top.’ Not a guy that has no definition, doesn’t throw any punches and sinks to body punches.
"To me there’s nothing gained. It’s false security. Anybody can beat these guys [and] knock ’em out, but it didn’t do anything for you. Gain is when you conquer."
Joshua is likely to fight again in March and Lewis would love to see him up against China's Zhilei Zhang.
He also believes Frank Sanchez would be a good bout, as they await the outcome of Tyson Fury's clash with Usyk.
Lewis added: "Be a conqueror, beat the guy [Zhang] that beat your fellow Englishman, Joe Joyce.
"The only new name is Frank Sanchez, that’s a good fight for him.
"The problem now, he’s going to be boxing the guys who are coming up, but his main competitors for more credibility are now Fury and Zhang.
"For me, boxing the guys who were coming up when I was there, I didn’t want that.
"I wanted guys who I could sink my teeth into, guys who would get me somewhere.
"Right now, [Joshua] is basically there waiting for a chance. They’re saying he’s got to keep busy but I’m like, this guy was supposed to be boxing for the championships a long time ago."
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Lennox Lewis says Anthony Joshua should fight Zhilei Zhang
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Hearn confirmed recently that Zhang was one of the potential opponents for Joshua.
He told iFL TV: "So right now we have three fights that we’re in discussions for.
"They’re all big and that doesn’t involve Deontay Wilder for March.
"Our aim, and we’ve expressed this, is to fight the winner of Fury-Usyk. That’s all we want to do.
"Obviously, there’s the [Filip] Hrgovic fight out there for the world heavyweight title.
Lennox Lewis also put Frank Sanchez's name forward
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"There’s a Francis Ngannou fight out there, which would be absolutely colossal. There’s other heavyweights as well.
"The Zhang fight possibly as well with Queensbury.
“Parker, yeah, possibly. It’s difficult. We fought Parker, beat him, unified against him, it was five years ago whatever it was, but Joseph’s definitely earned the right for a big fight.
"He’s just beaten Deontay Wilder, so we don’t rule that out either."
