I know this will have been done to death, but let's get everyone's updated views/picks Both at their best, who wins? Is it possible little Mike can give away 40 plus pounds and all that size to beat this unstoppable titan? Votes made public
A repeat of Bruno vs Tyson pretty much but unlike Bruno the 1st time who fought bravely I think Joshua would be intimidated like Bruno was the 2nd time. I think Joshua gets stopped within 4 rounds.
Fantasy matchups are all fun and all but is there a certain point were they are actually sort of kind of useless?
Simple answer is Tyson. AJ has shown that his jaw is nothing special and to survive with Prime Mike you have to have one of the best jaws in boxing.
AJ is a plodding bum with an overrated jab would take 2 seconds to slip inside on that bodybuilding bum and chin him. AJ would collapse from the adrenaline dump he'd get pre fight also.
AJ would just be like one of those HWs that Mike Tyson was destroying every other month in a few rounds in the 80s. He would be a fringe contender then, these guys in the 80s really came to fight. At AJ's best - he had a good offense, good handspeed and power but his boxing fundamentals were only above average - nothing special, and certainly not good enough for the top level of HW boxing. AJ's defense was poor, average chin, and has very questionable recovery skills that wouldn't bode well at all with prime mike Tyson.
I think Tyson is too ferocious, too powerful, too durable, and too alpha for AJ. Basically, I think its a specifically bad matchup for Joshua. Tyson by stoppage.
I honestly think Joshua would just be a top 10 type contender (exactly what he is now) if he didn't have the best of the best promotion starting with the Olympic robberies. Tyson runs through him.
I agree he did get rather lucky in the Olympics and AJ was marketed incredibly well despite being the most superficial man alive. But, he did beat some good fighters until he lost to Ruiz.