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

[The D3vil]

All this talk about AJ being "different" is nonsense.

Fact is, AJ is who he always was, a limited fighter with a bad gas tank and bad chin.

He may be a little more apprehensive since Andy Ruiz, but that's about it.

This is why he was never going to fight a prime Wilder or even an Ortiz that wasn't far past his prime

He was never going to fight Fury unless Fury was compromised or because he has no other options like now.

A lot of folks don't just want to admit that they let Hearn trick them.

[Liondw]

A combination of different, and diminished desire to be in boxing.

People forgot about that fight afterwards, there ain't even fifteen minutes afterwards, that they thought about the fight. But okay, got a win.

As he said, the social media stuff and publicity can get a bit much. A sense of a man that maybe has three to five fights left in boxing, that he'd bother to stick around for.

[MulaKO]

All this talk about AJ being "different" is nonsense.

Fact is, AJ is who he always was, a limited fighter with a bad gas tank and bad chin.

He may be a little more apprehensive since Andy Ruiz, but that's about it.

This is why he was never going to fight a prime Wilder or even an Ortiz that wasn't far past his prime

He was never going to fight Fury unless Fury was compromised or because he has no other options like now.

A lot of folks don't just want to admit that they let Hearn trick them.

Hahahahahahahahahahaha
Your absolutely right , these saps were all fooled by Slow Eddie
They have a hard time admitting it because they used to be yelling that he was gonna be the greatest heavyweight ever
All a fictional character created by Slow Eddie and the dumb fughin Hearnamaniacs swallowed it all
Funny how when AJ lost , you see less and less of these morons spitting chit out
There was one in particular , someone told me it was a kid , and he would come on day in day out and just reply to every single AJ negative replies
Just trying to justify even chit that was not there
Especially during the buildup to AJ Wilder ( which never happened )

[greeneye99]

Is his ambition to put up mediocre performances vs no-names and then have temper tantrums after every fight while thinking he deserves a title shot?

At least Wilder will give it his all, he won't quit while smiling like AJ did vs Ruiz.

"Wilder will give it his all,he won't quit..."
Lololololol No he won't
But Wilder will complain & have 3 or 4 excuses why he lost & accuse the other opponent of cheating

[Toffee]

"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.

Would stopping Franklin win the fight more than just beating him by a wide points decision?

The answer is no. A win is a win. He'd have won the fight just as much if he'd landed a big shot and stopped him.

Doesn't exactly increase the clamor for big fights, but if he wins then someone either has to beat him or win a big fight to go past him. Most of the guys you mention haven't done that.

[chicken-]

"Wilder will give it his all,he won't quit..."
Lololololol No he won't
But Wilder will complain & have 3 or 4 excuses why he lost & accuse the other opponent of cheating

Your comment makes no sense, what about complaining and making excuses negates the fact that he took a severe beating in both fights and never quit? AJ is content with the ref waving the fight off while he smiles, Wilder would destroy him./

[Roberto Vasquez]

Is his ambition to put up mediocre performances vs no-names and then have temper tantrums after every fight while thinking he deserves a title shot?

At least Wilder will give it his all, he won't quit while smiling like AJ did vs Ruiz.

Joshua didn't quit. He spat out his mouth piece and said yes when they Ref asked him to continue. If you don't know what that means maybe learn something about boxing. But who cares if he had? AJ fought Ruiz, Pulev and Usyk twice since then. Who has Wilder fought in the last few years?? Only person I can think of in the top-10 is Fury. Wilder just ran from a Ruiz fight and started talking about fighting a MMA guy.

AJ isn't the one who has given up. Fury and Wilder have.

[kiaba360]

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.

I think the constant inactivity and trainer changes have greatly affected his confidence, maybe more than the losses. I noticed that he would look to his corner during clinches, which could be dangerous against a more aggressive opponent.

[PRINCEKOOL]

Casuals are writting him off too early.

He is still more than good enough to beat guys like Whyte, Hrgovic, Dubois. I would say Joyce is 50 -50 fight.

The question remains how will he look like when somebody starts to throw on him big punches again. because Franklin was clearly not that kind of fighter, that was why he was chosen.

If AJ`s gas tank will be ok and if he will not panic again when taking punches, than he can go into late 30s with that style, using his advantages.

Joshua was hardly out of second gear throughout the entire fight.

Joshua was also never troubled by Franklin's power or attacks 'And I liked the way as a super heavyweight, for the first time ever? He was tying his opponent up and wrestling Franklin on the inside'

I have always stated that Joshua seemingly has no idea how to tie a fighter up on the inside 'If Joshua had this dimension to his game vs Usyk, it would of changed the whole dynamic to that fight'.

This is off topic, but Tyson Fury is not bulling and pushing about Anthony Joshua at 250 plus solid pounds 'This is a big part of Fury's game of late, but I don't think has the brute strength to use these same tactics vs other strong super heavyweights'.

Lets compared that performance vs Tyson Fury against Ottin Wallin 'Wallin is not a higher level fighter than Franklin, they are on merit a similar level'.

Fury was hit consistently, badly fatigued in the fight, and busted up real good 'Joshua's performance skill for skill is a better performance than Fury vs Wallin'.

The reaction to Joshua's performance is very dramatic, and a lot of is down to Joshua STILL being held to a incredibly high standard.

Joshua won 10 rounds, was never in threat of losing, and did not even shift out of second gear 'And for all the people that mock Joshua's endurance. Joshua was quite consistent and composed with the pace of the fight.

The fight was not fought at a super high pace, but it was a solid intensity fight 'Joshua's endurance is not super great, but it is nowhere near as bad as people make out'.

Overall I honestly think this latest version of Joshua 'Is the most composed Joshua there has ever been. He is not as aggressive in his attitude, but I do see other dimensions to his game developing'. As I said before, if Joshua can improve his Jab and learn to incorporate rough house tactics into his all round game 'Then he will be a very difficult heavyweight to beat'.

Joshua in terms of brute strength, has a higher ceiling than Fury 'I don't rate Fury's brute strength, he is no monster in this department'.

But what Fury does well is 'He knows how to use his strength and dimensions'.

The main positives I took from Joshua's performance, was that for the first time ever 'He used his brute strength, to basically stop Franklin from working on the inside'.

Note: This is the long game now mate, that is the competition between Fury, Usyk, Wilder, Joshua and Joyce 'They are all playing the long game, it is not about each fighter drastically altering their game'. It is about set up, refinement and tactics 'And which ever fighter executes this long game the best, will become the best fighter of this era'.

Because that is what it is all about really isn't it? Which one of these fighters will unequivocally become the best fighter of their era 'Joshua is still in the game, and is still a threat'.

[Toffee]

I think the constant inactivity and trainer changes have greatly affected his confidence, maybe more than the losses. I noticed that he would look to his corner during clinches, which could be dangerous against a more aggressive opponent.

I noticed that too.

It told me you've got a guy with great attributes and good skills but a fairly low boxing IQ, overthinking fighting. The clinch is the time to focus on the fighter an inch away from you, not to look across to your cheat sheets. You've got inbetween rounds for that.

But it was a tune up. A fight designed for him to get a win. I wouldn't read too much into it.

We've had plenty of fights in the past where top fighters have not been as spectacular as they would have wanted. But it tends to mean little when the big fights get made. If Joshua fights a Fury or a Wilder then he'll show up as well as he ever could. They'd be great fights.