was bob arum right about anthony joshua ?

Nah, he was wrong. Any fighter that manages to be known as the heavyweight champion of the world like AJ was is an elite fighter. Perhaps the standards for hws have gone down.

 

Wins over Klitschko, Parker and Povetkin suggest otherwise.

 

tbh

 

As said in the other thread; probably the best crafted hype job in the modern era. Eddie deserves a lot credit for his management. From what ive seen; its 90% brits that still take Joshua seriously.

 

I think so much of it stems from all the hype about Joshua and then his 1st fight on American soil the chiseled bodybuilder got the absolute **** kicked out of him by an obese 20 stone midget, 3 week replacement that looked like he was just there for the paycheck.

It was one of the most embarrassing losses in heavyweight history, so America's 1st impression of Joshua was that of a laughing stock.

Then after Joshua regained the title, they then saw him get his ass handed too him by what was considered at the time a cruiserweight, a cruiserweight that the wrecking ball Anthony Joshua boxed as though he was a deer caught in the headlights. Of course, Usyks reputation has grown considerably since where the performances can be placed in a much fairer context.

Then theyve watched the Joshua recovery against C level opponents - Franklin Helenius Wallin and Ngannou. The Americans could obviously see this horrific run of opponents for what it was, but the gullable fanboy Brits bought fully into the hype train again. Arum clearly knew that the next time Joshua fought a live opponent, Joshua would be exposed again.

Us Brits can give it a bit more context because we know Joshua is better than he showed America, particularly in the early part of his career.

The problem for overating Joshua stems from how he was hyped by a huge British fanbase, many of them casuals who dont know boxing. On the other hand, America have underated Joshua without fully assessing a solid resume. The truth in ranking Joshua is probably somewhere inbetween the two perspectives.

 

so Charles Martin was elite?

 

Are we comparing him to Ali or his actual peers who competed at the same time?
If Joshua was/is not elite in his era, then who the **** is?

 

CM was never known as the heavyweight champion.

 

he was the heavyweight champion that AJ dethroned

 

Does that somehow matter? Are you participating in this discussion in good faith or do you just want to be right about something?

 

Joshua was the biggest show on the planet until he was beaten. I don't think he's been the same since but while he was unbeaten he was probably second only to Mike Tyson in his prime in terms of being compelling, must watch viewing in the heavyweight division. That's what I'm talking about when I say AJ elevated British boxing to the top tier of the sport. The knockouts were spectacular & he was facing the best available opposition & doing it regularly. Like Iron Mike, the version that we've seen since his first defeat isn't anywhere near of the same quality, but that's not to say that he wasn't right up there when he was on his unbeaten run. Chairman Bob has a fair point if we're talking about the here & now, but he's not giving the guy enough credit for what he was able to achieve over the course of his overall career.

As for the implication in the comment that "only the Brits" take AJ seriously at this point, the best young heavyweight out there is Dubois while the best young, young heavy is that Itauma kid. As AJ prepares to take his final bow, you could say he's leaving British boxing in a healthy state. You probably won't see British boxing reduced to second tier status until the Australian heavyweights like Huni, Teremoana & Opetaia take over & sweep the Brits aside like fluff off a blanket. You know, like every other sport the countries have contested.