Joshua past a number of tests last night but where can he improve?

Klitschko hasn't changed anything from 2015 to now. 2017 Klitschko doesn't "level" Fury. 2017 Klitschko isn't able to get setup against Fury & barely throws a punch just like 2015 Klitschko couldn't. Joshua was in front of him all night of course Klitschko looks like a different guy. Fury wouldn't be in front of any version of Klitschko or Joshua for that matter all night. Styles make fights. Fury beats Klitschko all day every day. If their fight happened a year earlier or yesterday Fury still wins...assuming of course Fury's sh^t is together. Fury beating or not beating anyone is all about his sh^t being together more than anything else. Guy is a true student of the game & no one in the HW division gots a better ring IQ not even a high level/extremely experienced Klitschko. The thing about Wlad and Fury is Wlad is pretty much tailor made for Fury because Wlad wants to be perfect. Against Fury you have to take chances for it to work out and Wlad is not any sort of risk taker. Wlad perfected his style but he is essentially a prisoner to it, you saw it even last night because he just can't take a chance unless totally back against the wall forced to survive type situations. You can't fight Fury and worry about being perfect you just have to make it work. It is why less skillful guys that have aggression are much more likely to beat Fury up than Wlad because they aren't worried about being perfect. Plus Fury is a big dude it is hard to defend every inch of that frame but, against a guy who only throws head shots that simplifies things a great deal. Fury is a big guy that tries to fight like a small guy, that generally doesn't work against guys that are coming for the kill, you have to put Fury under pressure to crack him.

Yeah, his stick legs would be happy if he dropped down to 235-240.

AJ just need to lean down to 235 less bulk! AJ improves with EVERY Fight and he will get better from this but can't forget only his 19th Pro Fight in 5th year as a pro yet he found A way

Obvious one would be lay off the free weights and do more cardio probably dropping like 10 to 15 pounds. However, his body has become used to being a certain way it would take time for him to adjust to having a different body type and he really doesn't have time to do that now that he is considered the man. I think a lot of the things are kind of baked in he will always be a bit stiff and mechanical which pretty much means he can always get caught. Unless he changes his body his shots will always be a bit wide because those muscles get in the way of straight shot. He should work on simple things like improving his jab so he can impose his range on smaller fighter and really controlling range. Tightening up his defense when in range of the other guy. If he can do things like these he can limit the damage he takes, while inflicting a good amount of damage on his opponent and should keep his cardio from becoming a huge factor in most fights.

He can tighten up in all areas but for me, the most important alteration he can make is to is weight. He needs to drop 10-12 pounds. I think if he did that his stamina would improve massively. To be honest though he's doing pretty well for a 19 fight novice.

Come on man. Klitschko was Klitschko. And he was older Klitschko so the fight was more competitive. A x years younger Klitschko (3yrs, 5yrs, 5+yrs) wins this fight last night & he'd still lose to 2015 Fury cuz 2015 Fury just gots a higher boxing IQ than any version of Klitschko has had. That said 2017 Fury probably loses to a 1993 version of Klitschko to go full fantasyland with my post with sci-fi bs. Some people keep saying this but ive watched wlad for a long time and have seen basically all of his fights. He looked better than hes looked in the past at moments in the fight yesterday. His footwork was great and he wasnt clinching as much but moving side to side more to evade. He was very fast too. Seemed to gas a little faster though.

Needs to use his jab more and slip shots Sometimes he gets way too stiff and upright, if he can use some tyson like headmovement and counter off that more he could be even more dangerous. Also shouldnt come in that heavy anymore.

His arms are too big, he's carrying too much extra weight and his body can't recover fast enough. It took 3-4 rounds to recover and get his wind back. This is why I said I think Parker can best him, if Parker gets passed Joshua's first wave of offense, Parker will be much more aggressive than Klitschko.

Stamina. Perhaps he has to lose some of his muscle mass for that. He had some moments in 5th round but after that, but next 4 rounds looked like he was trying to recover before getting a second breath I noticed the same thing. He doesn't have to carry that amount of muscle in order to fight. He looked tired in the mid rounds. When he got knocked down he took a long time to recover. Those are not good signs. I don't see him having a long career unless he addresses his stamina problem. Other aspects of his game were good. I thought he handled the pressure of the fight well considering he had only 18 fights.

Just everything really. His jab could be crisper. His right hand could be straighter. His head movement could be better. His ring IQ could be higher. The thing is, without tests like he got last night, he wouldnt know these things. I agree with everything really although the IQ will surely improve with time...

yeah, Joshua was really ahead of himself after he knocked down Wlad in the 5th. Commentators talking about how immature/inexperienced he was in that moment. https://youtu.be/HS--MUSH9YA?t=1m36s This is true but usually when he knocks an opponent down they stay down... Klit, isn't just any other opponent though!

I think he wasn't respectful so much as super nervous with the reality he found himself in. I mean I'm positive he knew going in what this was all about, but I think when that bell rung for the 1st round he was a lil taken aback by the enormity of the moment. He seemed to have gotten over that by the start of the 3rd round iirc. And I think this is just something that's going to happen to anyone in such a big moment. The next time it'll be less & the time after that it'll be less even more so. You just have to go thru it. As to the OP I think stamina is clearly something that needs work. But honestly idk how much you can improve stamina on such a big mfer. Personally I just think that'll be a disadvantage his whole career & have actually been saying that since before it was an issue cuz this body type just tends to run outta gas. Your body can't be this f#cking big & not have problems emptying your tank quicker than normal. That said I think it'll still take a high level cat to take advantage of that. Cuz even while he took 2ish rounds of to get his 2nd wind Wladimir, who's old, but was the top guy for a decade, couldn't take full advantage of that to win the fight. So I highly doubt lesser guys can take advantage of Joshua needing a couple rounds to re-gain his wind will help lesser opponents defeat him. The younger, fresher, hard hitter cats might be able to capitalize on it enough to stop Joshua or get the decision doe & Joshua & his team need to work on making that fact less of a liability for them. yeah, Joshua was really ahead of himself after he knocked down Wlad in the 5th. Commentators talking about how immature/inexperienced he was in that moment. https://youtu.be/HS--MUSH9YA?t=1m36s

Just everything really. His jab could be crisper. His right hand could be straighter. His head movement could be better. His ring IQ could be higher. The thing is, without tests like he got last night, he wouldnt know these things.

Stamina. Perhaps he has to lose some of his muscle mass for that. He had some moments in 5th round but after that, but next 4 rounds looked like he was trying to recover before getting a second breath

I think he needs to work on head movement. It's funny on a documentary leading up to the fight Joshua laid out the plan to beat klitschko which relied on keeping constant head movement and varying the attack head to body however there was very little head movement. Also Klitschko does telegraph his attacks and almost always before he throws a 1 2 or a hook he'll start bouncing in and out of range and I'm surprised Joshua never really caught on to to it and adjusted. I still believe though that Klitschko would be too much for Deontay or Parker at this moment

I don't think he is as good as I thought he was. I think he is an OK heavyweight champion but not an exceptional one. His chin seems just average at the championship level and his stamina seems below average. His hand speed is good and his punching power with both hands is terrific especially with the right hand. He is a pretty smart boxer and he showed courage and determination.He might be good enough to beat any heavyweight fighting today but I am not as sure of that as I was before this fight. I am sure the Wlad of a few years ago would have knocked him out. I tend to agree about his skills right now, but his chin is pretty iron. That right hand would have knocked most guys out cold. Sam Peter was the only other guy I have seen successfully eat a flush right from Wlad. As far as everything else goes, I think you have to take his level as a fighter with a grain of salt. He started bozing 9 years ago! It's insane that he is at this level already. And as smart as he is, as young as he is, he's most likely going to keep improving.

It wasnt a stamina issue as much as it was unsteady legs. The fact that he recovered from that insane right hand is proof of his peak conditioning. I think AJ needs to focus on being a more measured finisher when he has his man hurt. He has a bad habit of getting wild and purely head hunting when he goes for the finish. Even while hurt, Wlad and Whyte were able to time AJ's predictable 1-2s and hurt him. It would serve him well to take a page out of the Frazier/Tyson book and mix it up when going for the kill.

did he pass the VADA test doe? :lol1:

I don't think he is as good as I thought he was. I think he is an OK heavyweight champion but not an exceptional one. His chin seems just average at the championship level and his stamina seems below average. His hand speed is good and his punching power with both hands is terrific especially with the right hand. He is a pretty smart boxer and he showed courage and determination.He might be good enough to beat any heavyweight fighting today but I am not as sure of that as I was before this fight. I am sure the Wlad of a few years ago would have knocked him out.

I think he showed too much respect in the early rounds .. If they fought again he'd take it too him from the 1st bell