Does Anthony Joshua have the best resume of any active heavyweight?

No.

Out of current HWs it's Usyk.

 

It’s either AJ or Usyk. AJ wins by virtue of Usyk not fighting at HW for most of his career. Usyk gets credit though for the wins over AJ.

Wilder’s CV is rubbish. Fury’s is padded due to the 6 fights against Chisora and the aforementioned can crusher.

And all of the above highlights just what a diabolical era of HW boxing this is.

 

If you ignore Joshua's losses there is an argument he has the best resume. But the reality is he has lost to Ruiz and then twice to Usyk.

 

True but he easily avenged Ruiz, although Ruiz was a disgrace who hadn’t stopped eating between the two fights. And the two losses to Usyk were honourable, the second fight being pretty close. Usyk is an ATG cruiser and potentially an ATG heavyweight if he beats Fury so there is no shame in that.

Fury hasn’t beaten anybody really. Wlad was done and Wilder is a nobody.

 

This is certainly true...

Thing is, you almost have to ignore it if all else is equal.


Let's say you have two fighters with roughly equal records... Except that one beat 5 or so fighters that were better than any the other guy beat, but has 2 or 3 losses on there too.

These aren't equal records - one had the balls to fight a higher calibre of opponent, won a good few and lost a couple too.

The losses might tell you something about the upper bounds of their abilities...
But they've still proven more than someone with lesser wins whose top level isn't known - that level might be as high as the guy with better wins, it might be higher, or it might be lower... Given the bell curve nature of the pinnacles of any sport, the odds of it being lesser are MUCH higher than the odds of it being greater.

 

All a much of a muchness, taking a snapshot today.
Remove all context, it is probably Joshua, then Fury, then Usyk.
Heavyweight Wx10 Universal Ranking System | Boxing News 24 Forum (boxingforum24.com)
You can argue for any of the three as having the best resume, depending on how you want to spin it.

I really hoped both Usyk and Fury would have defended their belts against more top 10 names. But alas it's been over two years since Joshua last held the titles, and Fury (and Usyk to a lesser extent) have done next to nothing to strengthen their resumes.

 

Agree with your logic in a general sense but Joshua fighting Ruiz wasn't a case of having the balls to fight a higher caliber opponent. Ruiz became the short notice replacement after Miller tested positive and he was chosen because he was considered fairly low risk and the fight was intended to showcase Joshua to the US market. That Joshua won the rematch on points doesn't remove the humiliation of the fat Mexican dropping him 4 times and stopping him inside 7 rounds. Joshua doesn't hold any upper hand there. They are 1-1 and Ruiz's win was by stoppage.

 

Without wanting to get into the particulars there... It's one loss to a fringe contender, which was avenged.

Yes, it's a loss that his record would be better off without, but this is heavyweight and such things happen to even the very best - Lewis had similar surprise losses to underestimated opponents, and avenged them just as Joshua did.

And even beyond all that... Ruiz's very narrow (and debatable) loss to Parker was still a better career highlight than Ortiz had when Wilder beat him... he's not a great one to lose to, but he'd still have gone in right at the top of Wilders resume - it's only because Joshua had beaten much better that it looks as bad as it does.
Yes, he's very inconsistent, but he could be a handful on the right day.

 

It's all about opinions

 

No, Tyson Fury does.

Fury ended Klitschkos run

Joshua struggled with Klitschko after

Fury beat Wilder twice by KO. That's better than every Joshua win besides the Klitschko win. (I personally thought Fury won the first fight that was ruled a draw)

When Fury beat Whyte he was in the top 5. When Joshua beat Whyte he wasn't even in the top 10.

Joshua has more depth and actually a good amount of title defenses beating Parker, Povetkin, Ruiz, Braezele, Martin and Pulev

But Furys top 5 wins > Joshuas.

Also Joshua has a bad upset loss vs Ruiz but that's part of taking on strong competition time and time again.

Furys resume for me is better but if someone favored Joshua because of depth I'd understand it.

 

I believe it’s Fury.

If it’s not Fury then it’s Usyk.

There is a real schism:

Fundamentally it comes down to if you believe Wilder or Joshua is the better fighter.

I believe Wilder would KO Joshua. Therefore Fury’s resume is better then Usyk’s resume.

 

Pure resume...yes.

Best record, which factors losses...no.

I have always liked Joshua, even when I picked Usyk to beat him twice. Undervalued guy who did a lot for the division when it needed it, and just got overtaken by a man who was one better.

 

If Wlad, Povetkin and Pulev weren't ~40 years old when he fought them (and Pulev wasn'y wrecked by Covid too), then he'd be close to Fury.
But I'm sorry to tell Big Joshie fans that prime Wlad and Povetkin utterly destroy AJ and Pulev probably wins a decision.

 

No

fury has best resume