Anthony Joshua's legacy as it stands in 2024

Discussion in 'World Boxing Forum' started by Redbeard7, Jan 7, 2024.


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  1. kriszhao

    kriszhao Boxing Junkie Full Member

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    Wilder has no win over Klitschko... Matter of fact he was embarrassed and dropped so bad in sparring that he was given a cake and sent home.
     
    kriszhao, Jan 7, 2024
    kriszhao, Jan 7, 2024
    #16
    kostya by ko and Jackstraw like this.
  2. lufcrazy

    lufcrazy requiescat in pace Full Member

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    His legacy as it stands is clear number 3 behind Usyk and Fury (potentially higher if he gets the Fury fight and wins)

    Short time number 1 in the world.

    One of the top dogs of the post Wlad era.

    He also has a chance to outlast Usyk and Fury and become 3 times champion.

    All in all he's done alright for himself.
     
    lufcrazy, Jan 7, 2024
    lufcrazy, Jan 7, 2024
    #17
    The Real Lance, Joy_Rones, Contro and 3 others like this.
  3. Jolly Roger

    Jolly Roger Active Member Full Member

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    Joshua is doing ok, he’s pretty well positioned. Right now he would be rated as 3rd best of his generation, with 2nd place up for grabs. If Usyk beats Fury and Joshua has a good year, beating Ngannou, Hrgovic, and one other (hopefully Zhang), then he’ll be rated as 2nd best and the favourite if a Fury fight were to take place in 2025. A lot is going to happen this year.
     
    Jolly Roger, Jan 7, 2024
    Jolly Roger, Jan 7, 2024
    #18
    Perkin Warbeck likes this.
  4. lufcrazy

    lufcrazy requiescat in pace Full Member

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    Plenty of people picked Usyk to beat AJ.

    He was the undisputed champion at CW and had tested the waters successfully at HW.
     
    lufcrazy, Jan 7, 2024
    lufcrazy, Jan 7, 2024
    #19
    KINGWILDER likes this.
  5. 007 373 5963

    007 373 5963 Active Member Full Member

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    AJ has been good for the sport, and he's putting in a halfway decent effort at his second chapter. He's keeping busy and winning, and making his way back to the top. Not sure if he'll be successful, but he'll definitely get another title shot either at a vacated belt or at the winner of Fury v Usyk. Also, like any other champion of the last several decades there were fights that should have happened that didn't, and of course there's also been some silly fights that didn't need to happen that did. Some of those were his fault, and some weren't. Unfortunately, that's the nature of the sport. Either way, the HW division will likely be a little worse off when AJ finally calls it a day.
     
    007 373 5963, Jan 7, 2024
    007 373 5963, Jan 7, 2024
    #20
  6. kostya by ko

    kostya by ko Boxing Addict

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    Sorry, that was Joshua who had the win over Wlad. Not the OP's favorite fighter, Wilder. My bad. ; )
     
    kostya by ko, Jan 7, 2024
    kostya by ko, Jan 7, 2024
    #21
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  7. Redbeard7

    Redbeard7 Boxing Addict Full Member

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    Joshua was a 1/2 favourite. The narrative of "Usyk struggled with Chisora and is featherfisted" was rife and many or even most who believed he'd outbox Joshua thought he'd get robbed in London.
     
    Redbeard7, Jan 8, 2024
    Redbeard7, Jan 8, 2024
    #22
  8. Redbeard7

    Redbeard7 Boxing Addict Full Member

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    I agree Usyk 3 isn't needed but from Joshua's perspective it's a fight they should be desperate for, along with the Fury fight.

    Wilder is finished and will lose to Zhang/Ruiz/Franklin etc. Joshua-Wilder is nothing now compared to what it was in any case.

    There are many reasons why I don't think Fury-Joshua happens now. I could send you all the reasons if you want. Ultimately Joshua needed to have zero, one or two losses for it to happen and he dropped the ball.

    It's often asserted that Joshua has "the best resume" but this is clearly false by any meaningful metric, whether it's quality of opposition faced (Chisora) or winning fights/getting results against the best opponents (Fury and Usyk). If Joshua's 1-3 in his biggest fights, that has more in common with Chisora's record in big fights than it does to Fury and Usyk's in my view.
     
    Redbeard7, Jan 8, 2024
    Redbeard7, Jan 8, 2024
    #23
  9. Contro

    Contro Boxing Addict Full Member

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    The Ruiz rematch win is probably more of a significant fight than the first one which was a late replacement. Regardless of how fat Ruiz was.

    This is like saying Tyson beating douglas in a rematch would not be a significant fight but Tokyo was.


    Youre saying the Ruiz 1 is significant but its only significant because he lost.ifRuiz stays down in round 3 you would give Joshua 0 credit.


    Im not even a Joshua fan, at all.
    But this is BS
     
    Contro, Jan 8, 2024
    Contro, Jan 8, 2024
    #24
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  10. carlingeight

    carlingeight Active Member Full Member

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    Personally think Joshua was desperately unlucky coming up against Usyk. Don't think it gets much worse for him stylistically, not to mention Usyk being truly a generational talent.

    Ruiz Jr was an off-night mentally. No surprise that when the focus shifts to the AJ brand and 'cracking America' that he comes unstuck. Ruiz should get huge props though for fighting the way he did, took a lot of heart and mental strength to let those fast hands go after being dropped. No surprises the way Ruiz dropped Ortiz several times with Wilder in attendance, subsequently scaring off the bronze bomber from their planned match-up.

    Also think Joshua has kept the division somewhat honest. God knows how many paper world champions we'd have seen if he hadn't cleaned up. They would have likely stayed fragmented while everyone avoided Usyk like the plague.
     
    carlingeight, Jan 8, 2024
    carlingeight, Jan 8, 2024
    #25
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  11. ikrasevic

    ikrasevic Our pope is the Holy Spirit Full Member

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    AJ is a good champion (not spectacular). Someone who knocked out Wlad after 13 years! He didn't duck against anyone. He lost to Usyk; he lost to a better one. It's not a shame.
    He has knockout wins over: White, Martin (I know, but he was the belt holder at the time), Povetkin, Pulev, as well as a win over Parker.
    The only real blemish on his career IMO is the knockout loss to Ruiz; could AJ box like in the rematch with Ruiz...
     
    ikrasevic, Jan 8, 2024
    ikrasevic, Jan 8, 2024
    #26
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  12. NoChin

    NoChin Boxing Addict Full Member

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    What Legacy
     
    NoChin, Jan 8, 2024
    NoChin, Jan 8, 2024
    #27
    steviebruno, MarkusFlorez99, On The Money and 1 other person like this.
  13. hobby rider

    hobby rider Well-Known Member Full Member

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    Don’t bother listing the reasons why you think fury v Joshua won’t happen, we would all just prefer it if you didn’t post at all.
     
    hobby rider, Jan 8, 2024
    hobby rider, Jan 8, 2024
    #28
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  14. Redbeard7

    Redbeard7 Boxing Addict Full Member

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    "The Ruiz rematch win is probably more of a significant fight than the first one"

    I strongly disagree.

    Aside from Ruiz 2 being a fight that hardly anyone will ever watch through in the future and Ruiz being horribly out of shape even by his standards, fight 1 was far more significant in many respects off the top of my head:

    1. Arguably the biggest upset in HW history, upset of the decade or more in all weights?

    2. The nature of the fight: 5 KD's + 7th round quit job

    3. Round 3, one of the classic rounds

    4. Joshua's first loss

    5. Joshua's only stoppage loss thus far

    6. MSG debut, only American fight thus far

    7. Crowning of the first Mexican HW champ (Mexicans were 0-6, all by KO, in heavyweight title challenges previously)

    8. Fattest contender since Galento, maybe fatter

    9. Shortest successful HW contender since...Mike Tyson?

    10. The surreal aesthetics

    Ruiz 1 is crazy, stranger than fiction. As David Haye said "At least Rocky Balboa came in shape". Imagine if Rocky had been morbidly obese. The public wouldn't have bought it for a second; it would have been seen as surrealist parody, like Homer beating Tatum.

    "This is like saying Tyson beating douglas in a rematch would not be a significant fight but Tokyo was."

    A few problems here:

    1. There was no Douglas-Tyson rematch

    2. Douglas beating Tyson was one of Tyson's biggest fights and maybe the biggest, many would say it's one of the most significant fights in boxing history

    3. If Douglas had turned up in terrible shape and quit in 3 rounds in a rematch (as he did vs Holyfield) then it wouldn't be nearly as significant as the first fight. If the hypothetical Douglas-Tyson 2 had been a classic war or whatever then it would be viewed very differently

    "Youre saying the Ruiz 1 is significant but its only significant because he lost."

    Yes.

    Just as Fury-Ngannou would have had minimal significance if Fury had schooled him. We often only understand the significance of fights in retrospect, even many years later.
     
    Last edited: Jan 8, 2024
    Redbeard7, Jan 8, 2024
    Redbeard7, Jan 8, 2024
    #29
  15. On The Money

    On The Money Dangerous Journeyman Full Member

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    Was in tatters after Usyk2, tarted up since with some Norse manure.
     
    On The Money, Jan 8, 2024
    On The Money, Jan 8, 2024
    #30
    MarkusFlorez99 likes this.
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