AJ vs Frank Bruno`s opposition and Bruno vs AJ`s opposition how do they each fare?

No comparison at this stage of AJs career, he has only fought one name really and he was past it,and he almost came unstuck.
On the bone crusher fight Josh would have been knocked spark out.
Bruno fought much much tougher competition than aj, so let's compare them properly when he has actually done something wort noting.

 

Key word there is fought, not beat.

 

AJ is clearly already superior in every way to Bruno. Lets be real here guys. Bruno lost everytime he stepped up to world level, with the exception of the fight against that dried up old crack head McCall.

AJs wins over Klitschko and Parker supass any of Bruno's wins at HW, and there will more to add to that list too once his career develops further. Bruno's best win is McCall- its his only win over a world class level fighter.

Bruno never had a bad chin like some claim. He used to freeze when hurt though- and that meant he was easy to stop once you had hurt him enough, because he was effectively defenceless.

In AJs case we know he has a good chin- because of how he dragged himself off the floor against Wlad and won. That shows excellent recovery as well as a good chin.

 

The biggest issue with Bruno was that when you had him badly hurt, he used to freeze making him completely defenceless. This meant he was easy to get stopped at that point, whilst others would hang on and then recover.

 

Bruno's Top 10 opponents:

Tyson x2
Lewis
Witherspoon
Bonecrusher
McCall
Coetzee
Coetzer
Williams
Bugner
Tillis

Joshua has no problems at all with those in the bottom half (at least not the versions Bruno faced). It's too early in AJ's career to pick him over Tyson and Lewis. Witherspoon, Bonecrusher and McCall are all dangerous but winnable. He would outbox Bonecrusher and McCall at range, but they were both very durable with a genuine puncher's chance until the last bell. I think Joshua would be the favourite, but an upset is possible in either fight.

Witherspoon is trickier to assess. He had the tools to get past the jab and cause Joshua problems with his overhand right, but he wasn't in the best of shape against Bruno. If he was the level he was against Thomas I think Joshua shuts him down and discourages him from engaging; he had trouble as well with the sheer physical strength of Bruno, and Joshua is obviously a specimen in his own right.


There's little point doing a top 10 for AJ as Bruno Vs the likes of Gary Cornish isn't really worth discussing.

Bruno never beat anyone close to Klitschko's level, and while he would have a puncher's chance against an aging Wlad you can't realistically make him the favourite in that one.

Based on what we've seen Parker is a difficult proposition for Bruno. The strategy he employed against Joshua would probably work better against Bruno, who would have problems with Joshua's handspeed. I don't think Bruno stops Parker, and Parker is the more likely of the two to come on strong in the later rounds. Bruno only won one 12 round decision, and in that one he was hanging on for dear life. I would fancy Parker to outhustle Bruno late on and possibly even stop him.

Bruno beats Takam in a competitive scrap and has too much for Breazale and Whyte.

 

Bruno would of definitely lost to Wlad and been KO'ed.

Breazeale would of been a dangerous fight for Bruno. Big, durable, hits hard and has shown he can come from behind to win fights and Bruno could tire late. Bruno is better than Breazeale and would no doubt be ahead when it happens but I could see Breazeale at the very least hurting Bruno like Cummings did. A past prime Bruno who learned to clinch more and beat McCall could win a decision but younger Bruno might be in trouble.

Parker is durable and fast, not sure he deals with Bruno's jab very well, but again he might just tire Bruno out and stop him late. Parker's speed too might give him the chance to blitz Bruno and Bruno would be a big, slow target to hit which suits Parker, though I think Bruno would be very dangerous, if Parker tastes his power that will put Parker onto the back foot and onto Bruno's heavy jab. Pick em fight for me.

I'd confidently pick Bruno over Whyte. Chisora had him almost out, one right hand from Bruno and it's over and Whyte doesn't hit half as hard as some of the guys that took Bruno out.

Takam would be tough but lacks the power to hurt Bruno, might give him a tough fight though, but Takam does what he usually does when he steps up and loses.

As for how AJ does against the guys that Bruno fought in title fights. AJ beats Witherspoon, Witherspoon is dangerous but would struggle with the size difference. He's his era's Ortiz, dangerous and heavy handed but also slow of foot and lazy. I see Joshua winning a decision.

Tyson of 89 beats him, Tyson was slipping but he was still fearsome, can't see how Joshua does against that speed and power. If Joshua clinched more then maybe he can wrestle his way to a decision or late stoppage but he likes to trade too much and isn't mobile enough to out box him. Tyson of 96 wasn't the same, Tyson would be dangerous but tires and gets broken down and KO'ed, but would be competitive even a faded Tyson was very good.

Lewis of 93 was raw, but Lewis hit hard and if he drags Joshua into a war I see Joshua coming out 2nd best. Lewis of course was vulnerable though, Joshua right hand is straighter, he might very well do a McCall against Lewis. I also can't see Joshua doing what Bruno did, Joshua's jab is not as good as Bruno's. Whoever lands the first big punch wins.

Joshua beats McCall of 95. McCall did very little in that fight, Joshua wins a comfortable decision.

 

He did beat Gerrie Cotzee who was literally, very close to Klistchko's level.

 

It's very debatable that prime Coetzee is close to Klitschko's level.

The fleshy, disinterested shell of Coetzee that Bruno steamrollered clearly wasn't anywhere near.

 

This. Bruno fought killers. Bonecrusher Smith, prime Mike Tyson, prime Tim Whitherspoon, and prime Lennox Lewis.

Bruno also has the better wins. Oliver McCall, Joe Bugner, Carl Williams, and Jesse Ferguson are much better wins than post retirement Wlad, Joseph Parker, Takam, and Whyte.

Joshua is still very young and he may one day surpass Bruno, but he hasn't done in yet.