Gerald Washington is the frontrunner for the fight with Joshua.

Why?

 

I'd be shocked if it was Washington. Even in his prime he wasn't even gate keeper level, he's always been D level and now he's shot. He was an awful opponent even for Chisora, let alone Joshua.

 

He managed to outbox Wilder for 6 rounds before he got caught.

Tells you all you need to know about Wilder lol

 

When you have roughly a week to pick a replacement for a former champ that is trying to rebuild, I'd imagine the options are narrow, but Gerald Washington? He's not even a has-been. He's a never-was.

 

Hrgovic is too tough an opponent for Joshua a the moment. They have to be smart about rebuilding Joshua's confidence, especially since he is with a new trainer. He was just defeated twice in a row in dominant fashion and had a public meltdown for the ages barely a year a go. Hrgovic is young, hungry, has a 0-loss record and is an all-around great prospect. That's not what Joshua needs right now.

Wallin would be a good fit though.

 

They arn't trying to rebuild AJ

They are trying to stop the dead golden goose rotting away and protecting him before they bag him up to be cremated by Wilder for Saudi money.

 

Meh, Id rather watch him KO Washington, and see a card of boxing than having the whole thing scrapped and waiting another 4-5 months to MAYBE fight Wilder.

 

i woudnt mind that. gerald is a good dude. He deserves the payday. Hunter or washington. Hunter could pull the upset, not sure gerald could.

 

Miguel Cotto fought Clottey in his second fight after getting destroyed by Margarito. He had his soft touch already vs Franklin. He didn't look good but didn't take a beating. There's no reason he can't fight Hrgovic.

 

So what does that make you?

 

remember clottey comfortably winning that fight.

 

Not all fighters are the same. And the HW division is a different landscape where even an ATG like Lewis takes 2.5 years and four confidence-building fights after a loss. Also, Joshua has a new trainer. Why would his team throw Joshua in against someone like Hrgovic before they know Joshua and his new trainer can actually work together effectively? Joshua, to put it mildly, wasn't convincing against Franklin at all. He needs at least one more confidence builder before facing a hungry, young top fighter like Hrgovic.

 

All of this discussion seems to assume any opponent would take this kind of fight on 2 weeks notice.

Fighters have training camps and prepare for specific opponents and what you’d do to prepare and game-plan for AJ is different than for someone else.

Seems like that’s beyond a reasonable excuse.

So what makes you think he’d take it?

 

Washington is 41 years old and hasn't won a fight in over 4 years. Absolute waste of time and if this is PPV, heaven help us!

 

For the love of God... Just saw this thread. I've skimmed/read about half the posts.

It's not that GW is that awful, he's had a few good wins and some good losses. But at this stage of his career it's a step back from a Franklin or a faded Whyte. I can see AJs team not wanting Filip right now, but for crying out loud AJ-GW is not a PPV fight.
Way back in the day they had better fights on free TV and years later if you had a cable sub. Just at the "glamour" division.