Joshua didn't pass the chin check

I have been increasingly intrigued with Anthony Joshua. I will admit, I didn't pay much attention to him, even though he won a Gold Medal, and ran through his opponents like they were children. I recently took a more serious interest, and studied the tape. From all appearances, I felt like we were looking at the next great heavyweight. A 6 foot 6 Mike Tyson. He has hand speed, superior technique, and excellent movement in his hips. He is flexible, he can contort his body to deliver power while also avoiding it. He is a brutal finisher, I cannot remember a fighter since Iron Mike that puts his punches together like that. This guys hits people, and they turn into dust. Lennon Lewis didn't have this type of hand speed, its the hand speed that sets this athlete apart. Joshua is more like Manny in that regard, although he does not seem that athletic in his legs. He plods sometimes, he does not have footwork, he does not bounce on his toes. He fights flat footed, and that will leave him susceptible to boxers, and makes him ready to order for counter punchers. I am not sure about his physical appearance, I have seen posters on here make reference to PED's, but until I see a smoking gun, I am going to take him for what he is, an awesome physical specimen, clearly the strongest boxer on the planet. Wilder has power, but he is not groomed to be a champion, he does not have the pedigree, or the long term schooling Joshua has. Tyson Fury? Yeah right, AJ eats him inside of 3 rounds, Fury won't be able to run from this kid. I was super high on Joshua going into Saturday night. Now? Not so much, lets face it, the 2nd round was shaky, it was bad, and he didn't even really get tested in my opinion, his opponent couldn't put his shots together. I also saw some holes in that defense, which was the result of being to aggressive. If he is that careless against DW, he is getting knocked out. DW stops him on Saturday. AJ took to many clean shots, and was visibly hurt several times. AJ failed the chin check, he is destined to be knocked out by a lesser opponent if he does not go back to school, and get out of this club fighter mode. It's not going to work.

Comments (20)

Lol Dirk, I have not been on this site in awhile, but you did cross my mind when I contributed this post. The chin check in theory is the way a fighter reacts the first time he is touched. Joshua failed, he does not have much athleticism in his legs to begin with, very stiff, and those legs went south when he was touched. I don't about know anyone else here, but I watch the legs when someone gets touched, and as one poster pointed out, Joshua froze, he stopped like he was being controlled by a remote. Thats not good, to my eye test, he can be knocked out pretty easily. Thats not how I felt going into Saturday night. It's the Heavyweight division. Anyone can be knocked out. If he'd "failed the chin check", then he would have been knocked out.

10y ago

Ernie_Mavers

What exactly is "the chin check"????? It's heavyweight boxing. Getting rocked is an occupational hazard. Mike Tyson got rocked to his boots by Frank Bruno in their first fight, Ali got dropped like a sack of sh1t by Henry Cooper and was lucky not to be KOed. I think that was the best thing to happen to Joshua in his career so far. He was far too overconfident after the first round with the smiling and sticking out his tongue. Whyte taught him a very valuable lesson. Lol Dirk, I have not been on this site in awhile, but you did cross my mind when I contributed this post. The chin check in theory is the way a fighter reacts the first time he is touched. Joshua failed, he does not have much athleticism in his legs to begin with, very stiff, and those legs went south when he was touched. I don't about know anyone else here, but I watch the legs when someone gets touched, and as one poster pointed out, Joshua froze, he stopped like he was being controlled by a remote. Thats not good, to my eye test, he can be knocked out pretty easily. Thats not how I felt going into Saturday night.

10y ago

Ernie_Mavers

I re-watched it last night and i didn't find that Joshua was in as much danger as i thought while watching it live. He ate a good shoot that buzzed him, and he also ate body shots that almost had him at a stand still. He recovered quickly though and went on to regain control and take over the fight as he had done in the first. Credit to Whyte, he came to fight, wasn't scared of Joshua and showed a great chin. The fight turned out really good for Joshua i feel. He needed that to happen. It will help him in the long run. Your right, and your wrong. He was in trouble, he was just wasn't in with an elite level finisher. I give the opponent his respect, but he is a C class fighter. Big Ortiz could have finished Joshua in that state, and i don't even consider him top 8

10y ago

Ernie_Mavers

He is certainly top heavy, i think they should stop the bodybuilding, geezer put on 25 pounds lean since his first pro fight. I'm a huge fan but come on now! Normally I would say its impossible to gain that much muscle mass. Thats more weight than Barry Bonds gained.

10y ago

Ernie_Mavers

People are overating the division a bit by saying a good fighter would have finished him off. Sure a Tyson or Lewis would have put him away in that 2nd round for sure even a prime Haye maybe but I'm nit sure thweres that quality of finishers out there right now. As far as the chin check goes, this is heavyweoght boxing you are going to get hurt when you get hit thats a given, you need to be able to survive and recover. I mean did Holyfield fail the chin check against Bert Cooper or Ali against Henry Cooper ? (Dam those Coopers hit hard!) Needs to learn alot more sure but silly to write him off when he showed alot of good traits in that fight. Good point, however, we now know he is human, and if you consider boxing, and the marketing of it, that hurts. If GGG had been wobbled by DL, ad punished to the body over the course of rounds, it would have affected his credibility.

10y ago

RED_REP

He is certainly top heavy, i think they should stop the bodybuilding, geezer put on 25 pounds lean since his first pro fight. I'm a huge fan but come on now!

10y ago

Chrismart

10y ago

Dirk_Diggler_UK

10y ago

New_England

He passed the chin check for me. That shot Whyte landed in the 2nd was legit. He's definitely not got a David Price jaw. exactly. david price would still be on the canvas. remember when a light tony thompson shot had him rolling around on the floor like he was on fire :lol1:?

10y ago

Dirk_Diggler_UK

What exactly is "the chin check"? It's heavyweight boxing. Getting rocked is an occupational hazard. Mike Tyson got rocked to his boots by Frank Bruno in their first fight, Ali got dropped like a sack of sh1t by Henry Cooper and was lucky not to be KOed. I think that was the best thing to happen to Joshua in his career so far. He was far too overconfident after the first round with the smiling and sticking out his tongue. Whyte taught him a very valuable lesson.

10y ago

mann187

If he turns out to be as overrated as Frank Bruno was, I will be incredibly disappointed. Haha yeah me too, I hope he does well, but in the UK people need to stop thinking the HW champ should be a Body Builder.

10y ago

New_England

his chin did not look bad. this is HW boxing. a lot of you aren't familiar with it, and that's fine. big shots from big guys WILL hurt you if the punches are clean and on the chin. it's a matter of weathering the storm, and joshua did that. white showed a heck of a beard himself. he got cold early on. after that he was taking the shots well until the big right hand put him on stank legs.

10y ago

denium

He passed the chin check for me. That shot Whyte landed in the 2nd was legit. He's definitely not got a David Price jaw.

10y ago

Furn

If he turns out to be as overrated as Frank Bruno was, I will be incredibly disappointed. Who would beat a prime Bruno now though ?

10y ago

Ernie_Mavers

I wouldnt say he didnt pass it, i say he freezes when he gets hurt similiar to Bruno. He came back well, kept his composure during the fight, however Dillian simply didnt throw the right shots. Whyte got too caught up in destroying Joshua, he forgot to compose himself, throw the short shots inside and measure his long shots on the outside, which in turn allowed Joshua to re compose himself. Pros; Solid power - Whyte fell the full force of it Composed himself - during the attack on him Went 7 rounds (still wary about his stamina) Cons; Stamina - Whyte simply gassed himself too so was easier for him to keep energy Footwork- after he got hit, he looked amatuerish in his approach Range of punches with a moving target- he seems to throw the 1-2 over and over again, need more variety. Needs to remould his body- that extra muscle is not doing him favours, slim the upperbody and then youll have a more complete fighter He needs fluidity in his movement, its ok when the opponent is not on his level, but at world level someone will put him out unless he works on these things IMO. Slim down, gain stamina and ring experience which he CAN STILL DO! Hes only 26, no more talk of Fury, **** if Haye has anything left, hell do a job on him, i saw him chomping at the bit in the commentary haha. If he turns out to be as overrated as Frank Bruno was, I will be incredibly disappointed.

10y ago

Ernie_Mavers

You have to give Joshua some credit for the win. But there were moments in the fight were he looked very shaky indeed. Credit to Whyte, he came to fight and gave Joshua no respect at all. Joshua came through a tough test, but he is still pretty unproven. The hype over him is just ridiculous. Good post, I agree

10y ago

Ernie_Mavers

You can never please boxing fans, Joshua is a prospect at HW. A weight where one punch can do anything to a big man. It's not about pleasing us, this is how boxing is, and has been forever. People are incredibly critical of up and coming prospects, especially fighters that could potentially be heavyweight champion. It's not personal, nature of the beast.

10y ago

Slick_Rick

There are few heavyweights in history, if any, that have passed a "chin check", if a chin check is never showing signs for being hurt when hit by a big puncher. They are huge 6.4" plus guys. So what if he was staggered a bit, he didnt go down and recovered pretty quickly.

10y ago

Furn

10y ago

mann187

10y ago