Is AJ legacy greater or worse than Wlad's?

[MoneyKasha]

if he retires is his legacy better or worse than Wlad's?

[Haka]

Better, AJ has fat Andy, Usyk 2x and DDD on his ATG resume

[Smash]

how would 'new AJ' do v prime david haye?

[tophat1]

Worse, wlad was a great champion, wasn't far away from breaking the title defence record. Made a prime povetkin look like a novice.

was a clear number 1 in the division for a long time. With aj not fighting the other 2 top heavyweights (fury/wilder) he was never nailed on as the number 1 guy

[Toffee]

CV and Legacy are a bit different.

You can't question Wlad's achievements. They're elite.

I think you can question Joshua's CV. Not in terms of him being a 'hype job' - his boxing achievements have been good enough to justify his career. But he never quite got to the super elite level. Lost twice to Usyk and never got the fights against Wilder and Fury. Wlad is his career defining win and it's just a bit short of true greatness.

Legacy is huge though. He ignited the division around 2016/17. The Wilder v Joshua fight loomed and got everyone excited about the division. Then Fury re-emerged. Finally Usyk joins the party, shows himself to be the real class act and cleans up.

It's been a brilliant 7-8 year era post Klitschko and it was Joshua who started it and was a huge feature throughout.

By 2025 I don't think we'll have any of those 4 left in the sport. Half the supporting cast will be done too.

Going into the Dubois fight I didn't see it as a handing over of the baton fight but I now think it was. Dubois is a 90s throwback fighter. He's going to be great to watch.

[JOITATS]

His claim to fame is a W over Klitschko (literally the end of his career)


He was never a consistent champion. Andy, Usyk, now Dubois. You have to be consistently winning to be considered an ATG.
He's had his flashes here and there, but was never elite.


To be honest, in the last decade, the heavyweight divison has been a subpar talent pool.

AJ has been well marketed as a top celebrity athlete in the UK, with his TV, commercial appearances.

That's always built this bigger than life image of him. Which is not the case in reality of the sport of boxing.

[Clegg]

Wlad has a stronger legacy. For 5+ years he was the clear ruler of the heavyweight division. He doesn't have big standout wins. It was a very weak era but he fought the top contenders and dominated his biggest rival (Haye) when they fought. AJ has some good wins but he wasn't ever the clear top guy because the Wilder fight never happened and then the Fury fight didn't happen.

They both have bad losses but AJ's were in the middle of his best years. Whereas with Wlad you could argue that once he got with Steward he really improved. They had a long run without a defeat. So he was more dominant, more skilled, higher peak.

When comparing them I also think Wlad's performance vs Peter is worth mentioning. Wlad was dropped multiple times but dug deep, found a way to win. AJ never had a performance like that.

[RJJ-94-02=GOAT]

Wlad by a mile. He was The Champion in the division. AJ was only ever a champion. Big difference.

[Boxing 112]

if he retires is his legacy better or worse than Wlad's?

Not even close. AJ ducked the fighters we wanted to see him vs Fury and Wilder.

Wlad was champ 11 years fought everyone he could even if it was a weak era he still fought whoever was rated top or mando in his run

[famicommander]

Klitschko:
2 reigns as a world titlist including 1 reign as the unified, lineal heavyweight champion of the world

Joshua:
2 reigns as a unified world titlist

Klitschko was the champion. He was recognized broadly as the lineal champion and specifically the TBRB and Ring Champion.

Being a two time unified titlist is an impressive accomplishment that Joshua is to be commended for, but he was never THE heavyweight champion. Klitschko was, then Fury, then Usyk. Period.