Comments Thread For: Is The 2023 Version Of Anthony Joshua Diminished Or Just Different?

[tokon]

s

It's actually the 'causals' who are not seeing what's really happening here .
Joshua got a handpicked opponent who only had Dillian Whyte on his record , who fought and lost to Whyte who was coming off a brutal KO loss to Fury having never won a round. Joshua was supposed to look spectacular against the very ordinary low ranked Franklin , who until he was handpicked for Whytes comeback was working full time in a factory .
This nonsense with Joshua , who has never beaten anyone bar , a forty one year old Klitsckho and a novice Whyte who's never looked like wining a world title has got to stop. Joshua has never been that good and looked beyond repair on Saturday. Ruiz ruined what little spark Joshua had , he's a great kid but far from a great fighter.It's only the 'causals' who aren't sick and tired of hearing 'he's still a work in progress' ...wake up!
This is worst than the Bruno journey!

Now there's a good comparison! However, even after his limitations were exposed, Bruno was less hesitant than Joshua.

[Toffee]

s

It's actually the 'causals' who are not seeing what's really happening here .
Joshua got a handpicked opponent who only had Dillian Whyte on his record , who fought and lost to Whyte who was coming off a brutal KO loss to Fury having never won a round. Joshua was supposed to look spectacular against the very ordinary low ranked Franklin , who until he was handpicked for Whytes comeback was working full time in a factory .
This nonsense with Joshua , who has never beaten anyone bar , a forty one year old Klitsckho and a novice Whyte who's never looked like wining a world title has got to stop. Joshua has never been that good and looked beyond repair on Saturday. Ruiz ruined what little spark Joshua had , he's a great kid but far from a great fighter.It's only the 'causals' who aren't sick and tired of hearing 'he's still a work in progress' ...wake up!
This is worst than the Bruno journey!

Sorry but that's nonsense. I can only assume you were too young to see the Wlad that showed up against Joshua. Quote his age but I saw the guy who showed up. Parker was 3 in the world and an unbeaten champion. Ruiz had just beaten AJ. Povetkin and Pulev were both credible mandatories. The guy fought who he was made to fight - ie the ones who were gaining ratings with their respective orgs by beating their fellow contenders. Every style, every size, every guy he probably didn't want to fight.

You could go through your process with any of the current fighters. Wilder never fought anyone. Fury fought an old Wlad who was going through personal issues and won a stinker (then hid from a rematch) before beating the worst reigning heavyweight champion in history.

Or you could acknowledge that it takes a lot to win a title. More so to defend a title. Plenty to unify titles. More to regain titles.

They're at the level they are because they deserve to be there. They won the fights others wouldn't even take.

He's no work in progress. He's a two time unified champion who is evolving his style and is potentially moving into what are typically the most productive years of his career as a boxer. Don't forget he's 33 - go and check the history of what the best fighters achieved in their mid and late 30s.

Or you could write him off because you didn't enjoy his wide UD win.

[Toffee]

Now there's a good comparison! However, even after his limitations were exposed, Bruno was less hesitant than Joshua.

Bruno was an excellent boxer with an outstanding record. He fell short only at the very highest level and was typically very competitive; maybe even unlucky, in those fights.

Bruno was no joke. Except for people who believe only the top few are decent and the rest are trash.

[57Blues]

AJ would not be the first boxer to be written off, and then to only give some of their most memorable performances.

that will never happen with this guy Josh he is living off a past record and a Eddie manufactured image he can not live up to. People will still defend him bc they fell in love with him 8 years ago or something but he has nothing memorable to offer anymore. Just make some more money play it out till not even he will believe in himself anymore. He dont beleive in the ring right now that is why he dont take chances with opponents he chooses or how he behaves in the ring. But that is just how i see it, thoughts may vary.

[GBP4LIFE]

Dreadful and washed LOL

[Rebelrbg]

Joshua is actually better defensively, and with the shots he selects, his only real drawback at this point is that he's not committing to the punches when needed. That's more of a confidence issue that can be overcome, its not due to diminished skills. As Derrick James said after the fight, he saw Joshua fighting smart and executing the gameplan, and now that they have that as a foundation, he will be able to improve the other things such as committing to his punches. If he would have done this with the numerous right hands he landed, Franklin wouldn't have made it to the end.

[boxing IQ]

"Joshua’s failure to stop Franklin doesn’t mean he’s anything worse than the third or fourth best heavyweight on the planet, until proven otherwise."

Sooo..

Wilder, Usyk, Fury, Joyce, Hrgovic, Zhilei, and Dubois would each probably fail to put him away also?

Is that more than three or four? I don't know.

[JakeTheBoxer]

Everyone has to stop with this destroyer Aj narrative.
Name 1 elite prime heavyweight Ajs destroyed? You can't because he's never beaten one.
Don't include the grandads list of Pov, Tak, Klit & Pul as they were all 38-41 & shot, Klitschko had Aj but father time won again as Klitschko was spent.
So who's he destroyed? Martin xD Brazeale... who Wilder actually destroyed & Aj had to club for 8 rds. Parker? nope, Ruiz? we all know what happened there, Usyk.... Franklin nope. Whyte ranked 24 on the way up again not elite.

Aj destroyed cans on the way up but was never a 1 punch ko artist, they stopped falling over once he boxed top fighter's of his own generation. He's 33 slower, heavier, back in the weight's room & throws punches like it. The worst thing, he looked uninterested in there.

But hey, remember Fury's come back after he ate & snorted a spence in weight & lost it again. It's a funny old game.

Name one prime elite heavyweight Wilder has destroyed.

Szpilka, Breazele, Helenius?

[JakeTheBoxer]

Remember Franklin is a part timer ranked 34.
Hrgovic & Dubois both have a shot against the uninterested Aj we saw at the weekend. Most say Joyce beats Aj now & Dubois was ahead on all the card's against Joyce, but the eye happened. Fine lines.

Dubois sucks. In his last fight fighting a small guy he was down like, 3 times? I am sure he would take a knee fighting AJ.

Hrgovic is a punching bag blocking punches with his face. His gas tank is also very bad.

[Monty Fisto]

It began with the depleting knockdown against Wlad and was completed with the knockdowns and stoppage against Ruiz -- the realisation of just exactly how quickly it can all go pearshaped if you are gung-ho. Joshua has been searching for the right recpie of how to win well with as little risk as possible ever since. He knows conceptually that he took too little risk in this fight, but in his gut I'm not sure he has the appetite to follow through on this notion and actually be more risky in the ring.

I was one of those that thought he would stop Franklin, so it was definitely a performance that came in below my expectations, but I don't think he's shot and I think he has better skills than some are giving him credit for. That said, Fury shouldn't be next.