Anthony Joshua bottled it

Connor Benn got $15m in a one fight deal and burnt his bridges. If Zuffa get sick of him he's got nowhere else to go.

AJ is also 36. He has a very short run of his career to go, he isn't leaving Eddie and even if he did what promoter will pay him anywhere near as much?

Your legacy by definition isn't a "been there, done that" if you proceed to ruin it. You can always make it worse, and it stops when you die/retire. With all that in mind, he doesn't need the extra cash so why not just take the off ramp if your last few years aren't legacy building?

 

We can't say for sure until he announces his next fight.

 

Oh come on you know it's gonna be good money

 

I don't even know if he plans on fighting next, so too early to say.

Whatever it might be, it'll pale in comparison to what Turki is likely to offer for Fury v AJ.

 

Because I'd say he has got to the stage where he'll believe his legacy is secure

It's all business now

Similar to Uysk but in AJs favour he has no belts so can do as he pleases without getting in the way of a title picture

Zuffa won't care about a fighters age right now
They need to make a name with known quantities such as fighters like AJ
They'd pay him handsomely

I can't stand Benn but there's no way that's a 1 fight deal, far more going on there
And even if he loses he will have earnt 30 miliion is 3 fights

He won't be too bothered

 

I'd agree with that

But it goes back to AJ is in a financial position to not really worry about it if he chooses not too

 

Difference between Usyk and AJ is that Usyk has never lost a fight. Fighting Rico will damage his legacy for sure, but if he proceeds to take care of business it'll be considered a blemish on an otherwise perfect record by many.

AJ has 4 losses on his record, half by KO to opponents he was a major favorite to beat, and appears to be going down the Floyd Mayweather exhibition route (but at least Mayweather had the decency to retire after his first one).

 

In which case, he can retire. He doesn't need the money, and continuing the way he is is just embarrassing imo.

But we can agree to disagree there. I appreciate the robust discussion

 

Was he recovering from a near death car crash when he needed a tuneup first against Franklin, and another tuneup against Helenius and another tuneup against Wallin?

Regardless of what you think of Fury and Wilder, Joshua and Hearn always insist on more work first to prepare for them.

This isn't the first time it's been brought up in the last decade.

Against everyone else, he jumps right in. Without fail.

 

I understand your point.

But it doesn't make sense from his point of view.

He has the capacity to earn more money and as I said, NEED has nothing to do with it.

He can choose to take a tune-up, just like Fury did.

And if he wants that tune up to be Wilder, he's gambling that if he demolishes Wilder, that ups the purse for the eventual Fury fight.

 

Context is key

 

Kinda why it's taking ten years to make these fights though, because everyone keeps losing these pointless gambles.

Interesting choice for a tune up in any case. We'll have to wait and see.

 

Correction: YOU ALL. I didn't. I grew out of playing those games a while back

 

Semantics. In any case, it's something entertaining for people to discuss/debate over.

Do you think this fight happens?

 

I’m kind of with you on that but let’s not forget the tribute the fury did for the Hitman, that’s the only time I’ve seen Fury show any class, I’m not going to be cynical and say that he did it for any other reason than it was his pal, because it felt genuine and it was a moving moment for me.
But Joshua was right not to dance to his tune, and I thought it was a great move, and played great in his favour, but I’m cynical here because I do think he’s wary that fury can talk the hind legs off a hound dog, but he’s not scared of him at all never has been, and he’s right to not commit to it being the next fight, he needs a warm up and fury knows it, but it could play out interestingly as with no fight lined up for Joshua, and he is clearly not in camp mode due to the tragedy, the timelines are not matching up well for this one to happen in the next 12 months, which means the interest is going to wane further, I’m not going to say i don’t want it happening but it is not the fight I’m most excited for in the heavyweight division any more.