People who criticise AJ's resume after 18 fights don't really understand how boxing works. Can you name one active heavyweight fighter who had a superior resume to AJ after 18 fights? In Tyson Furys 18th fight he fought Irish level fighter Martin Rogan In Wlads 18th fight he fought a guy with 21 losses on his record. In Ortiz 18th fight he knocked out a guy who was making his professional debut. In Wilders 18th fight he fought Dominique Alexander, a journeyman with 11 losses on his record. In Parkers 18 fight he went 8 rounds with journeyman Jason Bergman. Yet one of AJ's biggest marks against his name is that he hasn't stepped up? Surely we should give him credit for the wins he already has under his belt and the fact he's about to take on an ATG in just his 19th fight. I don't understand why some people are so harsh on him for fighting "easy" opponents.
His resume was fine. Then he fought Charles Martin for a vacant belt and then defended it against Dominic Breazeale and Eric Molina. That is why his resume gets criticised. Yes, Wlad was the man but he will be 41, coming off of his longest ever layoff and also coming off of a loss. Also, Wilder's resume get's taken apart on here all the time.
Lomachenko. Inoue. Usyk. Rigo etc All have superior resumes in under 18 fights... That being said AJ is the goods & get's huge respect for fighting Wladimir ageing or not. Wilder is the joke...
That's true, I meant to say heavyweights not just fighters from any division because outside of the top 5 or 6 guys there isn't too much to choose from where as other weight division fighters can go up or down to face better competition.
Add to the fact that AJ only had 25 amateur fights. However, a middle ground is required. There's a huge golf between the journeymen and contenders, and the contenders and the boxers at the very top. So most of AJ's opponents are actually not going to be good learning experiences. The only way a star prospect Heavyweight can learn is by taking on the best fights until they have found their feet. Also, it's not fair to compare a heavyweight with the lower weights, it's harder to transition across 12 rounds when you're a heavyweight.
Weirdly, Dave Allen probably had the toughest schedule this year in the heavyweight division. AJ gets criticized because he's: 1) A world champion who hasn't beaten a real world class fighter yet. 2) Considered by many to be the best in the world with loads of hype. I agree that he's fought adequate competition for his own progression, but when people start talking about how he is going to be a future ATG or is going to easily run through all the other top guys like they're nothing, that's when there needs to be some chill and a reminder that he's not yet the proven article.
foreman, klitschko, Tyson, and many other great heavyweights all fought worse opposition than AJ has in his first 18, Tyson and foreman didn't fight anyone till they had 30+ fights. I guess the problem is that AJ has a title and people therefore want to see that title challenged for by the best in the division. If he beats klitschko and then goes on to beat some of the other champions/contenders in his next 10 then it'd be hard to find a heavyweight from history with a better resume in under 30 fights, all speculation and big 'ifs' though.
He's a victim of his own success. Fact is he's facing the kind of opposition he should be facing 18 fights in, problem is he's already got a title and he's blowing guys away with little difficulty. People are impatient to see him step up, some to see him exposed others to see him fulfill his potential. His next fight against Wlad should answer a lot of questions and expose weaknesses as well as strengths.
It's not so much the level of opposition he's faced but the fact he's not been in with boxers who bring a range of styles for him to learn to deal with. All of his opponents have been slow-footed plodders who stood right in front of him who couldn't expose his own poor footwork. I'm not going to work my way through your list so let's focus on Fury. He fought an array of different styles in his early fights. You mention Rogan, but Tyson boxed that entire fight from the southpaw stance, he was honing his skills. He fought Cunningham - relatively slick although a blown-up cruiser - and learned not to leave himself open to the overhand right. Has AJ really learned anything from his bouts other than he can knock out stationary targets? The level of his opposition in his first 18 fight has been fine, it's the hand picked style he's been up against which reflects the weakness in his resume...
Povetkin had a better resume at 16 fights, also a Olympic gold medalist, though he wasn't gifted his medal.
Take away the belt its not too bad but when you are charging top money for tickets and putting them on PPV then that's where the criticism comes from with me.
I was sold on AJ the second he signed to fight Johnson, who in spite of being lazy for stretches in fight, had a proven wrought iron chin, a proven elite level jab, and was a seriously solid defensive counterpuncher when taller fighters would overcommit. Joshua walked him down, then beat him down.
From a boxing perspective I've got no problem with his first 18 fights. It's how they are PPV and have miraculously landed him a world title that I think can be hard to swallow.
Everyone that knows only a little about boxing is that you don't just look at number of fights, but also to the time span those fights were in. Comparing Joshua's 18th fight after 38 months as a pro to Wlad's 18th one, which took place after only 16 months as a pro, completely voids any argument of who was further in his career at the time. He has done pretty damn good though. Although still unproven against real top class opposition of course.