Did AJ look impressive tonight?

[Guest]

Joshua looks like a fighter that is still learning to me.

He managed to overachieve early and is still learning, and has that mindset to improve and try different things.

He is mentally damaged at this point though, and is far too tentative when he has openings.......... Klitschko was the same after getting sparked early in his career and refined his style. Joshua is doing the same and I am actually impressed with his ability to move laterally and his distance control, jab, ring IQ etc

The things Joshua fans used to criticise me for when I highlighted those attributes in Fury 4 years ago.

I didn't think he was tentative at all in the third.
In the second he was throwing bombs too.
I actually thought he would fight way more cautious than he did.

[Vinnykin]

I didn't think he was tentative at all in the third.
In the second he was throwing bombs too.
I actually thought he would fight way more cautious than he did.

Funny you mentioned the third, as that is when he should have finished Pulev....... he looked good in the first three rounds and I was expecting a stoppage.

He took him another 6 rounds fighting tentatively, IMO........... it went to the ninth round and you are only looking at the first three...... I am forming my opinion on the entire fight, not individual rounds or 33% of the fight.

[Guest]

Funny you mentioned the third, as that is when he should have finished Pulev....... he looked good in the first three rounds and I was expecting a stoppage.

He took him another 6 rounds fighting tentatively, IMO........... it went to the ninth round and you are only looking at the first three...... I am forming my opinion on the entire fight, not individual rounds or 33% of the fight.

It was really weird when Pulev turned his back on him.

The fight should have actually ended then.

[Mammoth]

He looks a little more cautious than before but it wasn't a bad performance

[WarMaidana]

I thought Joshua looked good, he boxed well and showed power and his killer instincts at times. He looked a bit too tenative at times andshould have tried to finish Pulev earlier

[Scopedog]

I think outboxing him for a few rounds before putting him away was a better showcase of what he's capable of overall rather than just blowing him away after the 3rd round like he probably could have, I think. He won every round but the 4th on my card, never really let Pulev do anything and made him miss a lot, controlled the ring, still looked fresh after 9 which is a good sign that his stamina's improved a lot, and showed that he could force the finish and show killer instinct, punching not just with power but with volume and accuracy. I think he could have finished Pulev off more or less whenever he wanted, but carried him for a bit. My only real critique was for all the clinching - Pulev was mostly to blame for all that, but not entirely, Joshua did his fair share of it. Not only is it ugly to watch, it could be a liability against Fury with how huge and heavy Fury will likely come in. Aside from that I'm not really sure what other boxes he could have ticked.

[abracada]

I don’t think he humiliated him whatsoever, Pulev lasted well longer than expected for most. It was very Wlad-esque, safety first and waiting for your opponent to be absolutely done before going in for the kill. Even Wlad had a prime Pulev out of there in 5 though, I feel like AJ should have done the same but just didn’t really look to finish him following the third round.

AJ battered him for 9 straight rounds, multiple knockdowns and Pulev went running in the ring as he was getting his head caved in.

If you think that’s not humiliating I am missing something.

[removed]

I think it was a good performance, his best since Klitschko.

However I will say that Pulev was absolutely awful, but AJ won every round, knocked him down 4 times and then splattered him.

As everyone knows, I'm no Joshua fan and I think Fury beats him comfortably, however I call a spade a spade and you can't really knock criticise what did AJ did last night.

[RJJ-94-02=GOAT]

AJ battered him for 9 straight rounds, multiple knockdowns and Pulev went running in the ring as he was getting his head caved in.

If you think that’s not humiliating I am missing something.

That’s boxing. One guy usually gets hurt and knocked out.

AJ wasn’t dominating him round in round out. He wasn’t clowning or embarrassing him either. It was more of a systematic performance, very Klitschko-esque.

You’re the only person I’ve seen who felt Pulev was humiliated last night. He actually gave a better account of himself than I expected tbh.

[KTFOKING]

I thought he looked good. Clearly his style has changed and he's trying to win rounds mainly off his jab until he hurts his opponent. Joshua backed straight out a few times and got hit by Pulev's right hand. He needs to fix that going forward, especially against Fury.

Joshua is a good fighter and he will have a shot against Fury.