Anthony Joshua vs Lennox Lewis

The hook WEhyte landed on AJ wan`t any harder than the punches AJ went to finish him off with at all.

 

But he didn`t finish AJ with his hook that shook him back in 2015.

 

Whyte had his chance and lost, but that doesnt give AJ a pass for fighting someone as appalling as Baby.

 

I agree, he is the best finisher in the game.

 

I agree, but it doesnt make Wlad a knockout artist.

 

Whyte had an injury leading into the fight with his shoulder... and he made it worse in the fight.

AJ today would not survive a left hook like the one that dropped parker, chisora and browne.

Just can't be.

 

I'm not sure Wlad can be termed an accumulation puncher. Perhaps you're getting him mixed up with his brother?

Go and find the interview with Chris Byrd who states in no uncertain terms what he thinks of Wlad's power. There was a long term sparring partner of all the heavies over the last 15-20 years, including Tyson, Lewis, Cooper, Morrison, Tua at aĺ. He posted his thoughts about all the top fighters he had shared the ring with. The hardest puncher he faced?

Wlad. From all that I've read and heard, Wlad is right up there as one of the hardest single shot punchers of the modern era. Joshua got up from a flush right hand so his chin can't be all that bad.

 

I'm not saying AJ has a bad chin, just saying there are levels... and Fury/Allen/Parker have shown to have harder chins.

To be honest, you don't need to read things, or listen... just watch people go down from one punch, in multiple fights, by the same puncher.

Wilder is consistent with his one punch power, Whyte has proven he's got one punch power...

I mean one punch...and that's it. Laid out cold.

When has AJ lay someone out cold.

When did Wlad lay someone out cold.

These guys are all heavy punchers, but there are levels.

You saw the bodies of the Stivern's, Spilkaz, Chisoras, Browne's.... all laid out cold by Whyte and Wilder.

Undeniable.

 

Let's just deal with Whyte. Wilder, IMO hasn't really stopped anyone who is proven to be really durable but an argument for another thread.

I can counter by saying that a tired Chisora walked on to the left hook. Not saying it wasn't a good left hook as it was, but I like to see things in persepctive. I think this argument has been done to death already on this thread but if you walk on to a punch the effect is magnified. Basic physics at play here. As for Browne, he clearly is not at the same level and whilst Dillian did a great job it doesn't make me think that he is a 1 punch KO artist. He's heavy handed for sure and very powerful but a heavyweight version of Julian Jackson or Tommy Hearns? Naw..

Anyway, at this point Lewis is easily superior to Joshua but until AJ is retired, this is not a meaningful comparison. And Joshua's chin, albeit not at a McCall, Mercer or Chuvalo level, is good enough to see him stop Wilder, Fury (if he can catch him) and Whyte for a 2nd time. I know you'll disagree but that's ok.

 

it's a void argument. Joshua took 5 years to have 22 fights by age29, Lewis took 3 years by age 27! Look at Tyson it took him one year by age 20.

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Wlad had terrific one punch power. When you consider how he fights then you can notice it more (as in he doesn't tend to load up and throw powerful hooks). He mostly just keeps it with a 1-2 although his left hook was a monster. Ruined Pulev with that shot. I think it was a short left that sent Povetkin absolutely all over the place as well

 

I think AJ has a better chin than you hope. He's fought a bunch of big punchers in Wlad, Whyte, Povetkin, Breazeale etc and still has only been dropped once. AJ probably has faced the most big punchers of all the top guys right now, if anything his chin is the more tested.

Is Joshua's chin really any worse than say Parker's? Both walked into left hook counters from Whyte, Parker dropped heavily, Joshua stayed up right. That would suggest Joshua has a better chin than Parker.

As for Fury's chin, he's been dropped by guys that wouldn't drop AJ, his chin isn't great, his heart is tremendous though, putting him down doesn't seem that hard, keeping him down is much, much harder.

As for Wlad's power, style wise he may not be a puncher as he was a spoiler but he had devastating one punch power when he chose to use it, he probably hits harder than anyone active right now including Whyte, Joshua, Ortiz and even Wilder. He might not as be half as aggressive as any of them, but when he chose to unload with power it had devastating effect.

I can't even believe you're questioning his power, he has shown on numerous occasions that he has immense power. The one punch KO of Chambers, first man to stop Mercer, though he was older than methusela at the time. His left hook dropping Pulev who has never shown a weak chin, dropping Povetkin with an innocuous looking left hand, his KO of Byrd. His left hook alone is as hard if not harder than Whyte's in my opinion.

If you think Whyte hits harder than Wlad then your delusional. Now Whyte will pressure opponents more, throw more, land more, break guys down rather than spoil his way to a frustrating decision, but in terms of single shot power, Wlad has the edge.

 

Fury's recovery really is something when climbing off the desk.

RE Wlad's power, one of the mistakes people (well, pundits) made when analysing his fight with AJ (prior to the actual bout) was that they had AJ listed as the puncher in that fight, which he very much wasn't.