Boxing analyst Teddy Atlas revealed what he believes to be the reason for the decline of former heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua.

Joshua has come under fire for his recent performances that saw him lose twice to Oleksandr Usyk in their title fights, while his unanimous decision win over Jermaine Franklin in April left much to be desired despite having a new trainer.

For most observers, the first signs of Joshua's decline came when he lost to Andy Ruiz Jr. in the summer of 2019 — even if he did bounce back and win the rematch.

The general thinking is that “AJ” lost some of the aggression that made him a star ever since Ruiz knocked him down four times in their first meeting.

But for Atlas, it all comes down to the heart of a champion and that's something he believes Joshua lost once he became a global star and got the money that came along with it.

“When you talk about the [Wladimir] Klitschko fight, bravo,” Atlas said on Macklin’s Take podcast (via Boxing Social). “He got off the floor with a guy who can hit with a right hand, bravo, that’s the behavior of a champion. But the guy was 40 years old, let’s not forget that. Would he have got off the floor with a 30-year-old Klitschko? I don’t know. But he did and he behaved like a champion.

“But what I take out of that fight is he never behaved quite the same again, finding a way, doing what a champion does, getting up. With the Ruiz fight, everyone looked at the physical parts, but what I’m saying is he didn’t behave like the way he did against Klitschko. I have to believe it’s this, and I know in my mind, he didn’t want to behave, he’s too rich to behave that way – I’m going to make it real simple.

“When it was against Klitschko, it meant everything, he didn’t have a bank account anywhere near as big as he does now and it was in front of his people. He didn’t have to get off the floor against Ruiz, his bank account was beyond all numbers, so he was safe, he was already safe – in boxing you should never be safe.”

Joshua will have a chance to prove Atlas and all his other doubters wrong when he takes on domestic rival Dillian Whyte in a rematch set to take place Aug. 12 at the O2 Arena in London.

Should he win that fight, it's very likely Joshua will set up a December meeting with American knockout artist and former WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder.