"ANTHONY JOSHUA WILL KNOCK OUT DEONTAY WILDER!" - Eddie Hearn

[kafkod]

You're embarrassing yourself.

Just as you did with the post saying Joshua fought Usyk because they thought he was too small. No, he was a mandatory. Like a real life mandatory when orgs follow their rules and the champion takes on the mandatory challenger.

Joshua didn't duck. He offered. Over and over. He actually signed up to fight Fury - a real signature on a real contract. Wilder confirmed that he fought Fury instead of Joshua. How much evidence do you need before you understand?

The debate over Joshua's ability or his place in the rankings for the era is absolutely up for debate, but whether he was trying to make the big fights and achieve Undisputed is a definitively completed debate. He was. It's really, really clear to anyone with even a moderate IQ.

As for why Fury avoided meaningful fights... who knows? But he very definitively does. He's fighting a non-boxer rather than any kind of legitimate challenger.

Some people would rather deny reality than accept that an opinion they formed 4 or 5 years ago turned out to be wrong.

[ELPacman]

Prior to watching AJ go life and death against Helenius, I felt him vs Wilder was 50/50. Now I'm learning 80/20 towards Wilder. AJ just looks too timid. He's going to look scared to death against Wilder and he should be. If he lapse for just 5 seconds, he can be the next victim looking like Helenius, eyes rolled back staring into the light.

I just hope Wilder sticks with his 215lbs weight. He seems to be more devastating at the lighter weight which gives him a blinding right hand. I can't see AJ avoiding that for all 12. I also can't see Wilder not slipping that in when AJ decides to get brave and exchange.

[kafkod]

I don't see this as much of a slam dunk as others do if Wilder turned down AJ then fought some unknown bum i would understand but he went on to fight the better fighter out of the 2 in Fury so surely he should get more respect for turning down more money and fighting the better fighter?

It was a slam dunk against the narrative that AJ/Wilder never happened because AJ was ducking it.

I would aslo argue that back when Team Wilder made the decision to pursue a fight with Fury instead of unifying with AJ, they didn't know they were picking the tougher option of the 2. This was before AJ lost to Ruiz and Fury got himself fighting fit again. That's just my opinion though

[kafkod]

Prior to watching AJ go life and death against Helenius, I felt him vs Wilder was 50/50. Now I'm learning 80/20 towards Wilder. AJ just looks too timid. He's going to look scared to death against Wilder and he should be. If he lapse for just 5 seconds, he can be the next victim looking like Helenius, eyes rolled back staring into the light.

I just hope Wilder sticks with his 215lbs weight. He seems to be more devastating at the lighter weight which gives him a blinding right hand. I can't see AJ avoiding that for all 12. I also can't see Wilder not slipping that in when AJ decides to get brave and exchange.

I can accept that AJ looked timid, at times, though that could have been him following a game plan.

But saying he went life and death with Helenius is ridiculous. He won every round, except maybe the 1st, and flattened Helenius with the first serious attack he launched. That wasn't a life or death fight!

[kafkod]

Prior to watching AJ go life and death against Helenius, I felt him vs Wilder was 50/50. Now I'm learning 80/20 towards Wilder. AJ just looks too timid. He's going to look scared to death against Wilder and he should be. If he lapse for just 5 seconds, he can be the next victim looking like Helenius, eyes rolled back staring into the light.

I just hope Wilder sticks with his 215lbs weight. He seems to be more devastating at the lighter weight which gives him a blinding right hand. I can't see AJ avoiding that for all 12. I also can't see Wilder not slipping that in when AJ decides to get brave and exchange.

I can see either one of them knocking out the other.

I'm favouring AJ because of Wilder's inactivity and the fact that we don't know how much those 2 crushing defeats against Fury have taken out of him, mentally and physically.

[ELPacman]

I can accept that AJ looked timid, at times, though that could have been him following a game plan.

But saying he went life and death with Helenius is ridiculous. He won every round, except maybe the 1st, and flattened Helenius with the first serious attack he launched. That wasn't a life or death fight!

I mean, he got marked up pretty bad and the shot he landed against Helenius was available early on many times. Robert kept pulling straight back with his head up and hands down at times. I was calling it every round that he was going to get ktfo doing that and it eventually happened. I was just surprised how long it took to happen and in the process, Robert had a lot of success. AJ's face was pretty bad in the end. The KO was nice, but to get there was not that easy.

Anyone else thought it was so lame for him to walk out of the ring to let fans touch his gloves? As if he just KO'd, ahem, Wilder? Something remarkable? I thought it was so ****** like the dude legit needs validation in his life or he has a mental breakdown. Hell, Crawford was more deserving to do something like that a few weeks ago and even he did not, nor would ever have needed to. He's comfortable with himself and doesn't need that validation in life.

[ClubberLang82]

You're embarrassing yourself.

Just as you did with the post saying Joshua fought Usyk because they thought he was too small. No, he was a mandatory. Like a real life mandatory when orgs follow their rules and the champion takes on the mandatory challenger.

Joshua didn't duck. He offered. Over and over. He actually signed up to fight Fury - a real signature on a real contract. Wilder confirmed that he fought Fury instead of Joshua. How much evidence do you need before you understand?

The debate over Joshua's ability or his place in the rankings for the era is absolutely up for debate, but whether he was trying to make the big fights and achieve Undisputed is a definitively completed debate. He was. It's really, really clear to anyone with even a moderate IQ.

As for why Fury avoided meaningful fights... who knows? But he very definitively does. He's fighting a non-boxer rather than any kind of legitimate challenger.

This is boxing, not the UFC. 'Mandatories' are only obstacles if you want them to be. Money talks, and these boxing organizations grant exemptions all the time. If worse comes to worst, stars forfeit titles to make big fights happen. Wilder would always laugh about AJ's camp claiming mandatories when trying to book fights with him... Ortiz was a mandatory for AJ a couple times or so, and of course they managed to avoid it.

AJ still had the option to fight Fury if they could just come to an agreement. Of course they failed, and only then would go on to take the mandatory Usyk. Guarantee you they thought Usyk was too small for him, just like most experts did. So they had no issue taking the fight.

I'll concede that Fury's a total wild card when it comes to doing anything, but still, Hearn can never book the big fight when it comes to AJ. It's no coincidence.

[kafkod]

This is boxing, not the UFC. 'Mandatories' are only obstacles if you want them to be. Money talks, and these boxing organizations grant exemptions all the time. If worse comes to worst, stars forfeit titles to make big fights happen. Wilder would always laugh about AJ's camp claiming mandatories when trying to book fights with him.

Besides, AJ still had the option to fight Fury if they could just come to an agreement. Of course they failed, and only then would go on to take the mandatory Usyk. Guarantee you they thought Usyk was too small for him, just like most experts did. So they had no issue taking the fight.

I'll concede that Fury's a total wild card when it comes to doing anything, but still, Hearn can never book the big fight when it comes to AJ. It's no coincidence.

Of course Wilder laughed at AJ's mandatory obligations. As the WBC champion, he could afford to treat mandatory obligations as a joke.

[Willow The Wisp]

I have eyes, and saw the cup of the glove land which made a slapping sound which is what you heard. that was a dive nothing will convince me it wasn't. Just like Malik Scott who took a dive, Helenius is Wilder's buddy and sparring partner.

Stick to pro wrestling.

[Willow The Wisp]

This is boxing, not the UFC. 'Mandatories' are only obstacles if you want them to be. Money talks, and these boxing organizations grant exemptions all the time. If worse comes to worst, stars forfeit titles to make big fights happen. Wilder would always laugh about AJ's camp claiming mandatories when trying to book fights with him... Ortiz was a mandatory for AJ a couple times or so, and of course they managed to avoid it.

AJ still had the option to fight Fury if they could just come to an agreement. Of course they failed, and only then would go on to take the mandatory Usyk. Guarantee you they thought Usyk was too small for him, just like most experts did. So they had no issue taking the fight.

I'll concede that Fury's a total wild card when it comes to doing anything, but still, Hearn can never book the big fight when it comes to AJ. It's no coincidence.

I tend to agree.