Anthony Joshuas main two weaknesses.

[Earl-Hickey]

This is just my opinion so take it with a grain of salt, but I'll say what I see.

1. Stamina/weight issues

I put these in the same category, as Joshua imo has a problem when it comes to his fighting weight, which plays into his stamina.

Joshua at 245lb plus loses a lot of stamina, he tires easily, can only fight in bursts, needs long rests etc, this causes him all sorts of problems. CONVERSELY at 240 or lower his stamina improves quite a but, HOWEVER he then loses quite a bit of power. You can see this in the Parker fight and the Ruiz rematch, his shots are just not that hurtful at this weight. So it's a real issue for him, and they are really going to have to try figure out the sweet spot where he can have good stamina without losing too much power. I suspect this will low 240s, but no lighter and no heavier than 245.

2. Mentality and confidence.

This has been an issue since the Klitschko fight. I think Joshua knew he was one shot from defeat and skated through on a bit of luck as much as anything. From that fight on he always looked slightly off to me, I noticed it particularly on the Parker and Takam fights, both of which I felt he could have finished if he'd upped the aggression a bit. I noticed it SEVERLEY in the Ruiz rematch as Ruiz really didn't bring much to the ring but Joshua looked terrified until the 12th.

For me this is his two biggest issues, there are certainly other problems such as a lack of versatility, but most of those are outweighed by his strengths, but if he can't fix the above, there's more losses inbound, and soon.

[keepemup]

Stamina isn't an issue at all. He overexerted himself in the Klitchko fight and winded himself early.

The second point is more relevant. He reacts poorly when he gets hit unsuspectingly. Looks like he panics a bit.

Also, he did a lot of 'punching by the numbers'. Not very fluid and lacks some extemporaneous ability with punch selection.

Most of his training videos prior to the Ruiz defeat were all 1-2 combinations.

When dealing with big guys that can box, though a rarity, this limitation shows itself glaringly.

[DaNeutral.]

Head movement and fluidity. He's all a bit stiff and his lines are too straight. Also his powers of recovery is less than impressive, if anything that's been my biggest concern with AJ.

He was too bulky for my liking. I never felt he should be over 240 even if it was without an inch of fat. I hope he can keep that weight down.

[REDEEMER]

A.J has only not to manage stopping 2 guys both known to have the best chins or assume to have them and those were fights where he decided to box long ,he also dropped one of them so not sure you can take much from slight weight differences to show he hits significantly less harder .He weighed less for Ruiz rematch but he was below 240 I think ? This isn’t going to be his average weight and if he could go 11 with Klitschko above 250 and being down it’s not a problem as far as I can see off of one fight with Ruiz .

A guy with confidence issues usually don’t dominate every fight and win just about every round or go nearer in someone’s zone with less caution. If A.J decided to box long and just clinch on the inside people would just complain , he could easy use a Klitschko blue print or even Lewis and win merely on jabbing and holding eating up clock to force opponents out of their fight but he doesn’t do it .
,he picks them apart from every distance using limited clinching , he prefers to drain guys with actually hitting them that’s why few have seen the final bell .


When I went back to some old Klitschko threads and posts on here just to see I saw all the hate for him ,now he’s a legend and that hate has shifted to A.J and after him it will shift to the next guy ,no different from the hate Lewis got which shifted to Klitschkos . When A.J defeats Fury it will either change or grow even more ,we”ll see .

[Mushroom]

For me his biggest issues are:

1. Fighting at distance. His straight shots often look slow and telegraphed. He seems to struggle landing straight rights with any kind of regularity. If you watch the Povetkin fight for example he was having a hard time landing anything meaningful before the KO.

2. The way he reacts to big shots. His engine seems to completely deplete and he looks like he's fighting in slow motion. This can go on for rounds before he recovers.

3. He is at is best at a mid-range distance where he can land his best punches. Combinations with hooks and uppercuts. Problem is he's isn't durable enough to fight at this range with anyone who can punch.

[PRINCEKOOL]

All of the top heavyweights in this era have satisfactory stamina 'None of them are impressive in that department'. Tyson Fury has poor stamina, he always looks as if he is fighting under water.

I actually think Joshua & Fury have similar levels of endurance.

Note: If Tyson Fury had suffered the same kind of defeat as Johusa, he would not still be in the game. As soon as Tyson Fury is stopped in violent fashion he will retire in my opinion 'His mentality has not really been heavily attacked from inside the ring' outside of the ring is a different story.

[deathofaclown]

His recovery time is awful, if someone Clips him with a big shot, they have a very, very good chance to finish the job.

Fighters can get knocked down, guys like Fury and Juan Manuel Marquez get dropped but once they get up, they’re right on the ball but Joshua seems just go to empty once it happens. I’m not sure you can ever train to fix that.

[Mao]

His biggest problem is that he's too image conscious both inside/outside the ring. And that transfer to everything else he does in the ring and how he prepares from fights. From his weight, to getting carried away in the ring and not sticking to instructions. If he can fix that, none of these heavyweights can beat him.

He's a better and more skilled boxer than all of them.