Fabio Wardley vs prime Anthony Joshua

As usual recency bias gets in the way. AJ at his best was elite I would even favor current AJ over Wardley.
Wardley is good tough with good power but AJ has thunderous power especially in his right hand.
Wardley has some good KO's but AJ has legit sent many fighters to the shadow realm.
AJ also is a better boxer with a better kit of punches, in his prime he stops Wardley within 7 rounds.

 

I agree with a lot of the posts here saying Joshua would win but Wardley has that dog in him the AJ never had.

 

AJ did not have elite fundamentals, he was poor on the inside and chinny.

 

What makes Wardley have a better chin than Joshua? Joshua took Whyte's left hook flush, the same one that knocked out Chisora. Whyte hits a lot harder than Frazer Clarke. Parker didn't hurt Joshua once, either. The right that Wlad dropped Joshua with would've likely dropped Wardley as well. I do like Fabio, and he's a warrior who is fun to watch, but I'm not sure where this idea that he has some cast-iron chin has come from. He has not faced a world-level puncher.

 

AJ vs Parker was a timid fight with not many heavy shots landing compared to this burn burner with Wardley taking flush shots often.

 

Joshua may be able to outbox him, but Wardley has a good chin, stamina, is durable and stays in fights well in which he’s losing, things that Joshua doesn’t do/have.

Wardley sets up that right over the top well by throwing hard bodyshots first, and we’ve seen Joshua caught by that, and Wardley does it with power.

If he can land one of those late in the fight when Joshua is slowing down, he absolutely could stop him.

I favour Joshua narrowly with the better fundamentals to gain Wardley’s respect and outbox him, with some rocky moments throughout, especially late on.