IF AJ beat Rico...

Of course not.

 

Norton without the Ali win would have a resume not far off Tyson Fury and above Kabayel.

It would be good by the standards of todays division

 

It would look good for his image in the eyes of casuals and he would clean up the mess. But I don't think it's a significant scalp. Usyk just goofed that one up.

 

Desperation to raise joshuas historical standing. Rico beat nobody in the rankings and until then joshua will get no credit beyond saving face

 

what desperation? His historical standing is pretty meh for a two-time unified champ, although I’d say he ranks fairly well historically in a h2h sense. There are certainly fighters ranked higher historically who I’d favor him over h2h, especially if we can use the version from the Usyk rematch. That guy is a real problem for many, and might pull off a big upset or two.

 

Many of the fighters ranked over him historically who would lose are much smaller men who wouldn't be heavyweights by today's standards

 

AJ took 6 rounds to finish Paul. Thats the most embarrassing one of the lot.

 

he didn’t start trying until round 5. Took him two rounds of trying, and he was close to getting it done in round 5.

rounds 1-4 he was purposely holding back on throwing rights to the head, was hoping for a body shot KO out of a legitimate worry for JP’s health, while JP did nothing but run. Round 5, he knew he only had 4 rounds left so had to just go for it for real.

 

Sure buddy.

 

You don't seem to understand much about boxing or fighting. That fight was playing chess with a pigeon. The pigeon ain't gonna play, it's just going to knock the pieces over and **** on the board. Which is exactly what Paul did by running around and diving at AJ's crotch every chance he got.

If that had been a serious fight Paul was looking at multiple point deductions or a disqualification. As soon as he got a bit tired and couldn't keep the BS up, AJ broke his jaw.

 

Joshua from the Usyk rematch is the same joshua that fought Dubois. Usyk just isn't a power puncher and outside of Fury, Aj, Dubois, Chisora Usyk hasn't really explored the rest of the division, which would flatter any elite heavyweight. H2H joshua is not as good as you believe him to be. A prime Povetkin would have knocked him out

 

The guy who lost to Usyk 10-2 or 9-3 in the second fight is a h2h nightmare? Huh? He was comprehensively outboxed, hurt multiple times, and outclassed by a shorter guy who was 25 pounds lighter. This is your h2h nightmare?

Joshua has been defeated in so many ways - he is the opposite of a great h2h fighter historically.

He can be:

Outboxed, almost stopped on accumulation (Usyk)
Outfought in exchanges (Ruiz)
Blitzed and outboxed by a boxer puncher (Dubois)

Any style historically has a path to victory.

 

Still inexcusable to me. He was fighting a cruiserweight who's "career" consisted of old men or guys half his size. There is zero reason why AJ couldn't have walked him down and taken a few shots to land a devastating 1-2 of his own to end the fight in rounds 1 or 2.

The same people who give him a pass for taking 6 rounds to KO Paul would have absolutely crucified any other fighter for doing the same.

 

I dislike AJ but I can't take the Paul fight seriously. AJ seemed to be holding back, even just before the finish he wasnt throwing proper shots. It makes no difference whether he KO'd Paul in 1 or 8 or even carried him the distance, the event was a farce.

 

Almost no one sees it as a 10-2. The fan consensus was 8-4, which is fair. Judges were pro-AJ and had it 7-5 Usyk.

I recall thinking after 9 rounds "I think Usyk is just ahead but the judges likely have AJ up", before Usyk swept the last 3 rounds. Going into 10 there was everything to play for. But Usyk has freakish stamina, determination and an iron chin, otherwise he'd have lost.