Wladimir Klitschko was no better than AJ, he just had a weaker era.

Wlad was absolutely better than Joshua, hence why he gave AJ a good fight even in his 40s. The only thing that separates the AJ era from the Wlad era talent wise is Usyks eventual presence at HW.

 

The best Wlad spanks the best AJ. Outbox him, outmuscles him, yes, really, for all his brawn AJ has never had a good clinch or much of an inside game, and brutally dispatches him. Early superconfident Wlad bangs out AJ within 3, older safety first version sometime between 6 and 10...and I'm an AJ fan.

Wlad and Vitali have the same kind of problem as Usyk. They can't be considered genuine ATG because of the era they fought in, they didn't have fighters at or near their level but dispatched what was out there. All of the above does not diminish the good old fashioned eye test and any of the three of them are H2H nightmares.

 

I've always thought the difference between the two wasn't that big. Similar sizes, Wlad was better at long range but Joshua was better in close to mid range as evidenced by how their fight ended. Both didn't have the best chins or mental fortitude. I think Joshua's chin was better than Wlad's but Wlad hit harder and his technique was more refined and mastered.

People point to their fight as proof that Wlad would be significantly better in his prime, but Joshua wasn't really in his prime either when they fought. Physical and athletic prime sure, but skills wise? I don't think so. He'd been fighting guys like Martin and Breazale, To go from that to even a 41 year old Wlad is a pretty big jump. Following the fight Joshua became a better technical fighter and usually paced himself better than was the case pre Wlad.
People will also allude to their fights against Povetkin as if Wlad didn't hug and hold his way to victory against Pov. Atleast Joshua was able to decisively stop the probably roided Povetkin without controversy.

The biggest difference between the two imo is confidence. Both seem to have had confidence issues throughout their careers but Wlad had a long stretch where he overcame his issues to reign as champion for a decade, something I don't think Joshua could have ever done. On his best day? I would favour Joshua over everyone Wlad beat and the guys he lost to earlier in his career, but if put on the same schedule as Wlad I seriously doubt he manages to match his career.

 

Outstanding take, lol. Wlad was not only better than AJ, he was better than any heavyweight that came after him, excluding maybe Usyk. He was also better than most heavyweights that came before him. You're not becoming the most talented HW trained by Emanuel Steward for nothing.

 

Fury is so far ahead of Wlad and the stiffs he spent an era knocking over that it was just a reality check...it then took an equally great more disciplined man in Usyk to top Fury.

Fury didn't even have to be impressive in that Wlad fight, he won the majority of the rounds on basics whilst Wlad plodded around looking like a total stiff scared to throw shots he knew he would miss and that would make him gas out and fall over...

If Fury went 6 rounds down against a young sexy 25 year old at his current age, he'd bite down on him gumshield and go to war, do or die...Wlad didn't. Fury only a few years past debut said it...."if he could do the 12 round distance i'd easily beat Wlad"....which he was right about

 

If Fury was twice the champion he was, he wouldn't be half the champion Wlad was.

 

If knocking over bums and clinching/pushing midgets over makes you a great champion then call me Bob Marley.

Wlad didn't have class, he cheated in so many ways and didn't give fury any credit, just made pathetic excuses then got the opportunity to fight another hungry super heavy in AJ, had him out on his feet and failed to finish him missing telegraphed left hooks. PATHETIC. BUM OF THE MONTH.

AJ never quite managed to truly believe in his own hype...but Wlad did because of the pathetic era of men he fought. Tony Thompson and David Haye...LOL

 

No, that version of joshua was prime or close to it. Klitschko was well outside of his prime, farther from it. Furthermore joshuas reflexes and athleticism were at their peak. 41 year old Klitschko did not have that luxury nor did he have Emmanuel Steward in his corner, he was also 2 years inactive and given bad advice by his brother during that fight.

This overrating of anthony joshua has gone on long enough, i thought it would be over after Dubois. Joshua went life and death with a 40 year old Povetkin and got knocked out by Ruiz "in his prime" and couldn't avenge his loss via KO like Klitschko did with Brewster. Klitschko is at least a level above him peak for peak. Their resumes are leagues apart. Joshua's very claim to elite status is beating an ancient Klitschko

 

AJs resume is gash compared to Wlads.. Byrd X2, Peter X2, Thompson X2, Pulev, Povetkin, Haye, Jennings, Mercer, Rahman, Botha, Brewster, Chagaev, Brock, Ibragimov, McCline, Schultz ...
It has far more depth.. & the key difference between them is Vladimir was able to turn his career around after he was seen as damaged goods.. Joshua lost his way & became a Netflix Freemason LOL.. WK is a top 15 all time HW IMO.. AJ wont even break most people's top 30..

 

What's funny is OP would've had more of a point if he claimed FURY was better than Wlad, id disagree but Fury has a much better argument than joshua

 

And still Wlad beat better guys than Fury did, lol. And way more of them.

 

There's more to a fighter than athleticism though. Again, athletically yes he was in his prime, but he *did* get better skill-wise following that fight. In a similar vain I don't think Lennox Lewis's absolute prime came until after he'd already lost to Oliver McCall and linked up with Manny Steward. Was Lewis in his athletic prime? Yes, but that's not the same Lewis that I think could give any heavyweight in history a tough fight. Wlad was past his athletic prime but had 50 fights more experience than Joshua and was FAR more experienced against top level opposition. The Physical matters but so does experience. Makes even more of a difference when the fighter with experience is a decently well preserved athlete like Wlad was.

Life and death is a major overstatement. Povetkin did well for most of the 7 rounds, buckled Joshua early (though he was not seriously hurt) but then Joshua started finding the mark with his right hand and stopped him.
A tricky fight sure but saying that fight was life or death is either misremembering it or just being disingenuous. And again it's not like Wlad's performance against a younger Povetkin was something impressive. Ridiculous amount of holding from Wlad en route to a decision.

Joshua avenged the loss to Ruiz. Not by KO sure but he won the fight 12-0 in an immediate rematch. Wlad had years to build himself and his confidence back up before again facing Brewster (who was coming off of a tough fight and loss against Liakhovich). Not really a good measure to compare their ability.

 

He had just turned 41

 

He was a very dirty fighter, AJ might not be great but made a lot of money, conned the UK crowd and is not clinching after every jab and right hand for 36 minutes.

 

Wilder is called the Bronze bomber for a reason. It has a lot to do with the Olympics. And Wilder did not weigh 240+.