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This is not an article on doping violations, as it may be the leading thought seeing my topic. This piece was motivated by comments I came across calling for Anthony Joshua to resign following his rematch defeat to Oleksandr Usyk. Although the majority of such calls came from fans, it was quite bothersome to see that so many people felt that way.

This was only Joshua's third career defeat, but those calls for resignation made it feel like he was some washed up boxer. He may have lost to a superior boxer in Usyk, but there is no doubt that Joshua remains one of the very best boxers in the Heavyweight division. Once you take away Fury and Usyk, it will be hard to find another boxer clearly better than Anthony Joshua.

This post isn't even about Anthony Joshua. It is rather about the way sporting stakeholders treat athletes when they are going through rough performance patches. It goes beyond boxing to many other sports. Manchester United goalkeeper David De Gea was heavily criticized following his blunders in their humiliating 4-0 defeat to newly promoted Brentford.

Many questioned why he was still having a spot in the team and some completely rubbished his spectacular performances over the years. Such is the nature of a sporting fan/stakeholder - eager to move on and easy to forget. After a solid display one game later the critics have gone quiet, but we can do better.

Sometimes the critics do have their way and can create more decisive circumstances. Take for instance the case of former Liverpool goalkeeper Karius saw his career experience a dramatic decline following intense criticisms for his blunders during the 2018 UEFA champions league final. He was kicked out of Liverpool (on loan) and has struggled to secure interest from a top club.

Never Write off Anyone

Who can forget cases like Tyson Fury's comeback to heavyweight boxing though after several battles including severe weight gain, depression and loss of motivation. Not only did he come back to beat Deontay Wilder twice but he sits atop the Heavyweight rankings of the World.

Many other athletes have excelled at ages where others would've written them off. Not many would've predicted Tiger Woods winning a major again (2019) after we series of injuries and scandals that led to a rapid fall from superstardom. Even now I wouldn't put it beyond him to win another one. Such is the nature of determination at a high level irrespective of an athletes age or circumstances.

As long as the skill set is present, it is always within an athletes reach to launch a comeback and be successful. At the very least, we shouldn't try and discourage such efforts as fans or analysts as they make for very inspirational comeback stories.

Am glad Anthony Joshua didn't listen to his critics much, and is already preparing a comeback for later this year. No one is really spent until they decide they are, and that should be the sole decision of the athlete.