***Joshua is mentally shot***

I was saying at the point of round 8 and beyond "AJ's got to go for it now, he can't outbox Usyk so his only chance is to let his hands go" but he never did.

Why?

Did he "choose to lose" like Wlad did? Were they hoping for robbery decisions?

If Wlad lacked heart (and he never quit after being knocked down, no matter how tough it got) then AJ is positively heartless.

 

It's different from most Usyk fights in the Usyk didn't ramp up and increase his output and connect percentage later in the fight. AJ did a very good job of not exhausting himself and was able to land enough to not let Usyk completely take over.

 

Honestly given the matchmaking and financing behind AJ I could imagine if someone like David Price had that billion pound machine behind him he could have been a world champion.

 

Maybe, he was a giant with skills who could seriously punch. Adrian Broner was a 4 weight world champ after all.

 

You're mentally ******ed


Good talk

 

He did beat fatso by UD , so he wasn’t shot to do that.

 

He still knows deep down though that he was knocked out and only won the rematch by tapping and running against an even more out of shape Ruiz. Would you be confident you'd laid your demons to rest after running away from an overweight and out of shape guy that you were supposed to blow away in the first place?

 

This. People are too quick to write someone off after a loss. If Joshua makes some adjustments he definitely has a good chance at winning his titles back in a rematch.

 

No you're wrong. This was the best version of Joshua. Usyk was just too good. Joshua isn't bad but he was just never that good to begin with. I can see now. He's still a good fighter though But he will never be great. although he's technically better than Wilder so I'll give him a decent chance against anybody in this era. Usyk schooled a good fighter and he deserves all credit.

 

Funny how the worst AJ showed up against an elite fighter like Usyk, heck of a coincidence.

 

Can't say I agree with your assessment.

Joshua dug deep too, if he hadn't he probably wouldn't of even been remotely competitive against the exceptional Usyk. He made adjustments throughout the fight. For example Usyk does what he often does early, using the jab to control his opponents lead hand, tap, tap, tap to his opponents glove to reinforce a set response in his opponents lead which then allows him to create openings. But Joshua eventually figure it out and instead of parrying Usyk's jab just kept it in a guard position and not giving Usyk the openings like before.

Joshua also started working the body later in the fight, throwing hard uppercuts down the middle when Usyk tried to step to the inside, Lopez used a similar tactic in the latter rounds vs Loma.

Joshua quite honestly looked ready to go in the final round but stayed in there and kept trying to turn it around, if that's not digging deep I don't know what is.

AJ was for the most part just tapping Usyk, he simply wasn't able to land his usual power shots vs the slick Usyk, so he made and adjustment and took the power off his shots so he could land scoring shots even if they did little damage it was better than just hitting air with his power shots.

Yes he failed to land in combination which he is known for. Obviously that's because against a mobile opponent it's hard to land a combination as they are never in the same position long enough to land more than one punch at a time. Joshua as you say tried to use his height and reach but it wasn't enough against such a fast opponent who could move in and out to negate his physical advantages.

I don't think AJ has a low ring IQ, he's levels above many in the division in this regard, if he hadn't been able to make adjustments I don't think he would of lasted 6 rounds the way Usyk was bouncing his left hand off his skull in the early rounds. But he isn't on the level of Usyk or Fury in terms of ring IQ.

 

Usyk carried AJ in those last 3 rounds, he could have stopped him at any moment. But knowing the rematch was coming and knowing he would need a KO in the rematch to win.

He ensured AJ saw the final bell.

He will need to be able to stop AJ in a rematch to win as they will rob him blind on the cards. For the rematch my pick is already in as Usyk via KO.

This was about levels and AJ has never been at Usyk’s level, he is too slow and too predictable and doesn’t have a very good chin.

 

Agreed I was actually impressed by much of AJ's performance, he showed he could adjust when things started badly, got back into the fight in the middle rounds for me. He didn't gas, he didn't panic and fall apart when it became apparent he was being out boxed, he stayed calm and tried to figure Usyk out and had some success but Usyk is just exceptional he always had an answer for AJ adjustements.

Personally I think Usyk beat the best version of AJ I've ever seen. AJ didn't have an off night he had his best night ever but it was against a fighter who simply is better and the gap in skill and ring smarts was too big to overcome even giving it his best effort.

 

Joshua basically , all he has is uppercuts. When he can't get in position to land them, he struggles. His long range jabs, don't have enough power behind them. He's actually very limited when he can't get inside from mid range. It showed in the Ruiz fights.