Holmes is more a late 70's to 80's Heavyweight. Prime Holmes sleeps Joshua whereas Joshua would probably beat the 90's version. Overall Lewis Holyfield Tyson Bowe Tua All knock him out Mercer beats him also. He'd have to run from Foreman for 12 rounds and on Morrison, it'd all depend on what version turns up.
he would loose to all bar tua he was wee slow plodding he could tea off on tue no bother he would do a job on him and he may do well against bowe but he would lose to him as he could get up
Lewis Holyfield Tyson Bowe ^^^Joshua not beating them. Lewis would beat Joshua at his own game. Holyfield would simply outwork him. Tyson would bombard him with power shots not to mention he is used to fighting guys bigger than him. As for Bowe, Joshua has the best chance of beating him out of the four but he'd still get beaten. Bowe has a better chin, better inside game, better work rate, better will to finish a weakened opponent and the size to match Joshua. Not to mention the dude withstood numerous nutshots from someone of Golata's size and still barely went down. Regarding Mercer, it depends on how willing he is to go on the offense. If he fights defensively he gets beaten. If he goes on the offense then I don't see Joshua getting up given he hasn't shown he can handle a high volume puncher with good upper body strength like Mercer. A fat out of shape Ruiz on the offensive was enough to tax Joshua. Mercer would kill him. Foreman could go either way. He's rather slow and if Joshua choses to fight from a distance I don't see Foreman winning, yet Joshua's chin doesn't seem to hold up too well when targeted by big guys if Ruiz is any indication. If Joshua gets up close and slips up, Foreman will 1-2 him like Moorer.
If Holyfield ever fought AJ it would be a horrible night for Joshua. It would actually be hard to watch, Evander would brutalize him. Joshua gets a lot of flack around here and rightfully so. For some strange reason I've always been optimistic about him, even to this day, after the disappointing performances. With the lack of ability in the HW division these days, I still think AJ is capable of beating anyone except Usyk and yes that includes Fury. Joshua has one thing over all these guys: he has had the opportunity to spend 24 rounds learning at the feet of the master-boxer of today's HW division. If AJ has been disciplined and is still improving and working hard and combines this with anything he's learned from Usyk, he should be better than ever. Having said that, judging from the way he's looked up until now, I would say he loses to everyone on the list except butterbean, of course.
AJ clearly loses to peak Bowe and peak Lewis. For the others, I am not so sure that they would beat AJ, but there are certainly other candidates.
Yeah holyfield is constantly thrown in as like a gift win mythical matchup for every hw over 6' 2" as if holyfield never beat a bigger man or something. especially if a fighter has some dubious reputation for being "chinny." because since holyfield was a cruiserweight and not a huge puncher so they go "holyfield definitely wouldn't knock them out... so i can pick the opponent by close decision and look like a fair minded person since i picked the opponent to beat a hall of famer holyfield." then they turn around and say the same opponent would lose to a drug-ravaged Michael Dokes. AJ right now probably loses to all the listed fighters on their best nights (butterbean aside), but I think AJ's best version beating Morrison, Tua or late-career Holmes on one of their less-than-stellar nights is a definite possibility. The AJ from the Molina fight vs the Holmes from the McCall fight or the Tua from the Lewis fight for example. This board has crazy recency bias and never forgives a embarrassing defeat... until the next time you do something they like. Wilder is a perfect example. After Fury 2 he was an absolute joke, totally exposed as a fraud etc. HIS NEXT FIGHT, he gives a great performance and goes out on his shield and he is easily a top 3 puncher of all time now on here. AJ will continue to be **** on for his embarrassing microphone outburst and general just being kinda a cringe out-of-touch celebrity some times until (if) he has some highlight KO or goes out in a slugfest with Whyte or something. Boxing fans are fickle bunch to be sure.
I say he goes 5-5, Lennox Lewis (Joshua loses) Evander Holyfield (Joshua loses) Riddick Bowe (Joshua loses) Mike Tyson (Joshua loses) George Foreman (Joshua wins) Tommy Morrison (Joshua wins) Larry Holmes (Joshua wins) Ray Mercer (Joshua loses) David Tua (Joshua wins) Eric Butterbean (is this a joke?)
