How would AJ vs Hrgovic go?

How many times has Fury been stopped??

 

He very plausibly could've been at least twice...

Fury's been lucky at points through his career - I don't think that's controversial to say.

 

AJ has a 50% chance of getting outclassed by hurgovic and a 100% chance of getting KO'd by everyone else. Joe Parker rematch on points is the only achievable achievement AJ has left in him and maybe Mr Olympia

Meanwhile Fury is on holiday and will make a comeback when Kabayel or Dubious have some cake to offer which Fury will take for fun.

 

I was astonished to see that in the only odds that have been released thus far, AJ is a 1/10 favourite over Hrgovic (I'm not exaggerating) with three bookmakers in UK markets. Hrgovic is 13/2. Even taking A-side politics into account, I think this is insanity. It's hard to believe that AJ is still this overrated.

Regardless of any fanboy spin, it's a fact that in all of Joshua's best wins he's had significant advantages in age (Wlad), size (Whyte, Parker) or both (Povetkin). He's been beaten down and stopped even with a huge size and athleticism advantage (Ruiz), when he fought an elite but smaller opponent he got soundly outboxed twice (Usyk) and when he fought a young prime puncher he was annihilated (Dubois). He's 6-4 in his last 10 fights and his level of opposition beaten (284 lbs Ruiz, 39 Pulev, Franklin, 39 Helenius, Wallin, Ngannou) has not been that high.

Joshua would be on the cusp of 36, Hrgovic would be just passed 33. They're the same size with comparable overall skill and athleticism. Joshua's coming off the most physically devastating, one-sided loss of his career, Hrgovic is coming off a solid win against Joyce, away from home and on short notice. Joshua's got 100 million in the bank and has been a titlist, Hrgovic hasn't had a fraction of the money or success. Hrgovic performed far better against mutual opponent Dubois and unheralded 39 year old Zhang was a very dangerous opponent; he'd be a top 3 win for Joshua without question.

I think Hrgovic wins, so expect Hearn/Joshua to duck it and fight a finished 4 years ago Wilder instead.

 

i'm not convinced of Hrgovic's power, but you've got to admit, he often seems like he cannot miss with that right hand. AJ would stand up to a few of those just fine. But how about 100 of them over the course of a fight?