Pre-Ruiz Joshua vs 60's & 70's competition

You know who handled pre Ruiz AJ? Ruiz. An obese man.

He never was anything special, just a lot of hype. The 70s and 90s heavyweights handle him with ease.

 

#shortfatmexican

 

3 inches is a huge height advantage in boxing. Joshua also has 30 pounds on Norton pre-Ruiz. It's basically Usyk vs Joshua dimensions-wise, but with Norton having slightly better reach. Joshua is much larger.

 

3 inches can be a huge height advantage in boxing but how much good did the 4 inch height advantage Joshua had over Ruiz do him?

Physical advantages are only advantages if you are able to use them to your advantage.

Do you think the likes of Mike Tyson, Joe Frazier and Jack Dempsey ever looked across the ring, saw their opponent and thought 'Oh no, he's taller than me'?

Of course they didn't. There's a lot more to boxing than being tall.

 

I was never saying tall always beats short, I even mentioned Joshua losing to Usyk to dispel any notion that I think like that. Personally, I actually like fighting guys taller than me because they don't tend to have as much lateral movement defensively.

Anyway, I was just saying Joshua is a lot bigger than Norton.

 

I was just making the point, so what?

 

You said Joshua and Norton are about the same size, with Joshua having a slight advantage. I disagreed. Conceptualize it however you want.

 

Quote the post where I said that

 

Oh, my mistake, I thought you were the original poster I replied to.

 

Maybe I'm just spoiled by recency bias, but to me "huge advantage" of anything, whether height, weight, or whatever, is only really huge if it is difficult to overcome. Between Usyk's schooling of AJ and Norton's ability, I don't find that to be all that big a difference. Yes, even the 30 lbs, which is nuts in any weight class that isn't heavyweight.

 

Anyone who hasnt got a good chin can lose to Joshua. Ruiz and Uysk have solid chins.
Uysk is a atg with atg skills and Ruiz has assests like Handspeed and Very good chin.

So chinny non hitters need not apply. And even chinny less skilled bangers can get beaten by Joshua, not always.

 

Thats a size difference when one is built for power. And Norton was hardly a stick insect.

 

Consistent top 5-10 is reasonable.

Joshua is a sizeable, well drilled puncher. Not to mention quite a few men of the 60's and 70's were still on the Cruiserweight side of things (men who, mind you, outshined Joshua in talent, fortitude, and grit a thousandfold.) Out of the two Golden Eras of heavyweight boxing, that is the break of 60's and 70's, and the 90's, it's the latter that had more consistently terrifying roster.

Anyway, he is not getting anywhere against the elite five of Ali, Holmes, Foreman, Frazier, and Norton. The likes of Lyle, Shavers, or Young I would not be confident betting against either. Quarry would likely cherish picking apart another big punching idjit.

AJ would have to drop some of the muscles, because he would be fighting in a 15 rounds era, against often superbly conditioned, swift opponents. He is not getting rounds with the low, stiff workrate, and he cannot gas once he is forced to up it. Him being some kind of new breed of heavyweights, as he claims, is not an excuse. While I somewhat respect Anthony, I could also see him look extremely bad against, say, Gregorio Peralta.

Prime Sonny Liston scars him for life. Sonny was just terrifying. Master boxer, reach of 84, tremendous puncher with excellent body mechanics, killer instinct, and an all-time great jab.

 

I like the respect for Buster. A fine boxer with amateur pedigree.

 

Scratch that. I actually think Lyle is a nightmare for Joshua. Tought as nails, granite chin, decent skills, monstrous puncher with zeal in his heart. His determination against Foreman and Shavers makes Joshua-Klitschko look like a friendly affair.