Whether one deems Joshua's Olympic gold success to be controversial or otherwise, it cannot be argued that he's done everything that's been asked of him thus far as a pro, without any real case for criticism, I would have thought. He's 14-0-0(14) and as much as I'd like to see him in with a Teper, Thompson, Chagaev or someone of similar ilk, which would be the next logical step up, it's fair to say he's progressing at a reasonable rate. His Next foe is unbeaten Dillian Whyte, who mightn't look on the face of it as though he's the heir apparent in terms of the skill set he's exhibited thus far but he is unbeaten, he is ambitious and he does look as though he has some firepower, which might answer some questions about AJ's whiskers in the process. By direct comparison, in their 15th fights respectively, Vlad faced 4-13-1 Ladislav Husarik, Riddick Bowe fought 6-9-1 Robert Colay and Lennox Lewis poleaxed 40 year old, former Beltholder Mike Weaver. Granted, there are more ingredients to the debate than whom fought whom at this stage of their careers but if we are to judge AJ fairly then surely this is as valid a point to raise as any other. If Deontay Wilder can defend his strap against the likes of Molina and Teper victim Duhaupas with in excess of 30 fights under his belt then AJ's resume is more than acceptable. It isn't AJ's fault either that Kevin Johnson didn't show the resistance he had versus Vitali, Fury, Chisora, Charr et al (perhaps something to do with AJ's venomous hitting and ability?) . I could say the same for a few other former opponents but there's no need as the point is clear. AJ's rise is more than satisfactory from my perspective.
The only time you'll see a "peter fury" that makes sense is in a p orno--ZING! Sorry. Ok, that aside, Mercer, Kimbo, Toney, all the guys that haven't transitioned over well from boxing to MMA or kickboxing is because you're restricting yourself to half of your body, and that's how the mind thinks when it's kickboxing. You know how to use both, but only because you can use both. I'm not taking anything away from his camp, because obviously he thinks he knows what's good, but when you're in tight on a kickboxer, he wants to resort to using his legs (i mean, seriously), so you're getting to pot shot guys who are normally thinking different because you're painting them into a corner. Whether it's an intimidation factor or not (no Klitschko interviews like this--guy is a robot set on win), you guys may wanna focus more on the training, because you're a +350 underdog and those vegas cats don't like to lose.
Gotta disagree with you mate regarding your comment about the not so smooth transition of Kimbo, Toney and Mercer from boxing to MMA. I think the obvious factor is that Kimbo aside, who had no professional boxing resume whatsoever to make a transition from, Toney and Mercer were both at least a decade past their best before entering the octagon. I can't think of 1 single top flight boxer who has tried to make this transition... And until I witness an elite, still fast of hand and foot, primed boxer compete in MMA, there is no fair basis to make a judgement at all.