Anthony Joshua bottled it

No, I said that was what he wanted, nothing more. I don't states absolutes like a lot of you do. I've been a fan of boxing way to long to think any fight talks between two guys are guaranteed. Maybe try to learn that.

Still getting as much mileage out of the "too risky" comment I see. Must have been a HUGE win for you to hear a promoter say something like that. Good on you.

 

I'd understand that for a stay busy fight, but will knocking this guy out in a few rounds really knock any rust off? Feels like he'd achieve more in sparring.

 

He went from "Wilder as a tune up" to some guy nobody has even heard of. If he's that unsure of himself then Fury has this in the bag imo.

But at least this fight is finally signed.

 

This is his first camp under a new training regime and a fatal accident.

The experience will be just doing a fight camp with his new team more than anything else

 

That's no excuse for such a poor opponent, and it's not like they didn't have other options.

 

He needs rounds for sure. But the fights take you to a different mindset then sparring, with is controlled and usually planned. But if he wins quickly, will have been a waste IMO.

 

I literally just gave you the reasons.

If you were managing him what would you do?

 

All due respect to Kiwi, I think he'd put AJ with with a top ten guy and risk a massive pay day lol

 

Give him at least an opponent someone here has heard of. You know it's bad when even CST80 hasn't heard of the guy.

I'm sorry, but there's no way you can justify an opponent like this. If AJ is at the point where his team has to scrape below the barrel it doesn't bode well for his fight against Fury. But it is what it is, at least the fight is actually signed now and we can finally put this mystery to bed.

 

Fury went in with Mahkmudov. So someone roughly his caliber would suffice.

But I'll humor your tongue in cheek comment about the top ten, how about Bakole, Ajagba or even Gassiev? Very low risk opponents that are top ten, but if you want to dig even deeper (top 30ish) I'm sure an ancient Ortiz or Whyte would be up for the challenge.

 

This Albanian is 32 in the world if you wanna go down that level

Not a single one of this opponent's initally mentioned by you are that low risk

Not when something so huge is lined up

Are you looking at this from a fan perspective of having bought a ticket or something?
If so yeah it's a terrible fight
But it's not really something people are expected to buy, not massively anyway
People will tune in out of curiosity and that's it

 

"This Albanian" is a guy nobody else has heard of until today.

All of those fighters I mentioned are low risk.

1. Bakole got sparked in 2 rounds by Parker and is most famous for beating up a prospect.
2. Ajagba is pretty damn basic who's last fight was against Charles Martin.
3. Gassiev got his ass beat by Wallin.
4. Ortiz is 47 years old.
5. Whyte would be coming off a round 1 KO loss.

If any of those fighters are potential banana skins for AJ he shouldn't even be fighting at all. I'd expect even a shellshocked AJ to comfortably beat all of those guys on that list.

 

Bakole was hugely compromised

Gassiev punches hard
As does Ajajba

Whyte would want a small fortune

You say AJ shouldn't be fighting if any of those are risks
That's a very selfish statement and one you seem to use on a few boxers if they are not at the top of their game any more
If you don't think a fighter should be fighting any more because the level has decreased, just don't watch them?

 

Stylistically they should pose very little risk. Mahkmudov also hit hard, Fury still fought him and won rather comfortably.

If Fury was fighting this Albanian guy he'd get absolutely slated by everyone in this forum and you damn well know it.

It's just an embarrassing fight for AJ to take. Maybe my expectations are a tad lofty, but considering he was a former unified champion about to take on one of the toughest fights of his career I just expected better.