Some observations: Jarrell Miller fought both Dubois and Ruiz better than Joshua did. He should have gotten the win against Ruiz, and he lasted to the last seconds of the ten rounder with Dubois (in a pretty ferocious fight by both). If Joshua continues I think that is the fight to be made. Bad blood but it turns out that the skills are probably closer than anyone would ever admit ... until now. A case can be made that Miller was more effective against both Ruiz and Dubois (AJ's 2nd Ruiz fight doesn't count .... Ruiz didn't show up and AJ ran all night).
Yeah, there's a lot of bad blood there. That's just why it should happen ... assuming Joshua recovers okay from the Dubois fight and wants to continue at a top ten level. The Wilder fight is probably useless at this point. Wilder is nowhere near his previous form after Fury III. I don't think WIlder should be fighting anymore honestly. Hopefully AJ recovers with no excessive head injuries and wants to compete at that level.
The Dubois fight was epic. I wish AJ had gotten off a lot sooner and stayed safer. He talked a lot of aggression leading up to the fight, but we didn't see much after Dubois's big right in the 1st. When AJ rocked him in round five we almost got the fight I was hoping for. AJ rushed in and was careless and got caught bad. It happens. Very unfortunate moment. I wish he had taken his time and built on that punch, but ....
Make no mistake Joshua has been a beast during his run and earned his place. But hearn failing to make the big fights (and let the chips fall as they may) I think stifled Joshua in many ways. He never had any dogfights (Wlad was old and on the way out). Dubois however has been in many dogfights (including the Joyce fight). He now is very comfortable operating in them.
This fight shows what we missed as hearn played duck'em and A-side with all the rematch, multiple fight demands on other elite fighters (during Joshua's reign as champ). He may or may not have been as successful, but I think he would have gotten comfortable in dogfights with his guys at the top. Probably would have made even more money if certain fights could have been made. All that A-side nonsense negatively affected fights AJ should have had, even some he did have. hearn did AJ and the fans a disservice with all the BS. I think the Joshua we see now is the evidence of that.
Yeah, there's a lot of bad blood there. That's just why it should happen ... assuming Joshua recovers okay from the Dubois fight and wants to continue at a top ten level. The Wilder fight is probably useless at this point. Wilder is nowhere near his previous form after Fury III. I don't think WIlder should be fighting anymore honestly. Hopefully AJ recovers with no excessive head injuries and wants to compete at that level.
The Dubois fight was epic. I wish AJ had gotten off a lot sooner and stayed safer. He talked a lot of aggression leading up to the fight, but we didn't see much after Dubois's big right in the 1st. When AJ rocked him in round five we almost got the fight I was hoping for. AJ rushed in and was careless and got caught bad. It happens. Very unfortunate moment. I wish he had taken his time and built on that punch, but ....

Make no mistake Joshua has been a beast during his run and earned his place. But hearn failing to make the big fights (and let the chips fall as they may) I think stifled Joshua in many ways. He never had any dogfights (Wlad was old and on the way out). Dubois however has been in many dogfights (including the Joyce fight). He now is very comfortable operating in them.
This fight shows what we missed as hearn played duck'em and A-side with all the rematch, multiple fight demands on other elite fighters (during Joshua's reign as champ). He may or may not have been as successful, but I think he would have gotten comfortable in dogfights with his guys at the top. Probably would have made even more money if certain fights could have been made. All that A-side nonsense negatively affected fights AJ should have had, even some he did have. hearn did AJ and the fans a disservice with all the BS. I think the Joshua we see now is the evidence of that.
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