The belts are monopolised by his conquerors Usyk and Dubois. AJ probably can't get a title shot but if he somehow did, it would be against a fighter who has already dominated him. In Usyk's case outboxing him twice before becoming his trainer, in Dubois' case knocking him senseless, with AJ ducking the rematch. Joshua knows now that he will never win another title, regardless of Hearn's corruption. Wardley, as crude as he is, showed a much stronger chin, mentality and more effective punching than AJ, getting to the 11th round, never hitting the canvas and scoring 2 KD's, rather than scoring no KD's, being dropped 5 times and blown out in the 5th. Which won't do AJ's shot confidence any good at 37, more than two years, a lethal car crash and zero legitimate fights removed from that beatdown.
I don't think AJ is prioritising a title shot right now, he's focused on beating Fury once and for all.
He needs to focus on beating Prengal because we don't know what AJ has left now above Jake Paul level.
AJ doesn't even need to be at his best to beat Prenga to be honest. I know its HW boxing but if he actually loses to a part-timer...
Just witnessed a great fight between two heavyweights close to their primes and the only thing you can do is immediately make a thread about Joshua. It’s really really sad
How is Joshua not re-matching Dubois a duck? He got beaten from pillar to post, mopped the canvas with, and brutally KO´d. Joshua did not fight for another 15 months due to how badly it ended. But yea, he ducked the rematch. Sports fans, including boxing, are some of the pettiest people in the world.
To an extent I share some of your frustration, but boxing fans are human and humans tend to not allow themselves to fully appreciate something very positive and momentous and instead move on to something negative.
Actually last night's result is good for AJ and Fury. There match is going to be a mega huge event in Britain. Now the winner of that fight will have another big fight option ready to go if they want to tackle Dubois. They won't need Usyk.
Losers tend to always look for the negatives yes. Can’t expect much else from an unemployed grown man who still lives with his parents I guess.
Joshua, as always, had a rematch clause. We were told that AJ was a "throwback fighter" who "never ducked anyone". Yet when he had the chance to avenge a humiliating defeat and reclaim a title to become a 3x champ in a big money rematch, he passed it up. Which makes me question if he was ever truly the warrior that Hearn claimed he was.
It's bad for AJ confidence-wise and good for Fury. Now Fury has another option: Joshua, or Joshua's conqueror Dubois, who has a title. If Fury beat Dubois, he would be a champion again and have more leverage for a trilogy fight with Usyk than he would beating a beltless 4 loss Joshua. If Fury pivots towards Dubois, this also keeps AJ in the sport longer than he would like to be and further demoralises him, or even spurs an AJ retirement.