Anthony Joshua bottled it

Hearn is basically AJs mouthpiece and ultimately decides who he fights, because that's kinda his job.

Hope ol' Eddie is wrong though because I'd love to see AJ fight Wilder or Fury next. I just don't have high hopes because the promoters always try to cook the chicken a little more only for it to come out burnt to the crisp.

 

I agree with you there. Devil is in the detail but everyone else is too greedy to see past the money.

 

I agree Fury beats Joshua, always said that, but I wouldn't rule out Fury getting knocked down at least once, which is what makes it exciting to me. It's almost par for the course nowadays.

 

I've been into boxing since the 70s.

Who in the 70s, 80s or 90s announced they needed a tuneup first ... each time one fighter's name came up ... before a big fight could be made? And then never fought them?

Then they immediately jumped into fights with everyone else.

Joshua has been really good about jumping right in to big fights. Just not with Wilder. Ever.

Even now, after Hearn said Wilder would be the tuneup this time.

And everyone, including you, got excited. And they're going to pull YET ANOTHER bait and switch.

 

How is everything better please? He payed for a few good events, the greatest being the one topped by bivol and beterbiev, many others of them good but not great, but now there is NOTHING.

So many seem to be waiting for his paydays they won't take risks or don't even fight at all. Canelo vs crawford was a useless matchup for example, a wasting of crawfords last fight. Actually he probably would have given us several more fights without the many millions from the sheik he got for an over the hill canelo.

And now he wants usyk to fight a kickboxer apparently. The ngannou fights and so on.

He wants a spectacle. It doesn't seem to be about finding the best matchups in a boxing sense, but rather in a spectacle 'draw-a-lot-of-eyes' sense.

So at this point where bivol hasn't fought in forever, all heavyweights wait while usyk fights a kickboxer, middleweight is dead, noone fights opetaia who just lost his cruiser belt because of the zuffa thing and so on... I wouldn't say boxing is better now. He mostly took established boxers and matched them with lots of money.

Now everyone waits for riyadh season...

One good thing by him and the (beautiful, lovely, sweet) wbc was that youngster tournament though. That's the way to match fighters and grow the sport. All great talents in a tournament. More of that and i am happy

 

Would Joshua have needed a "tuneup" if Chisora knocked Wilder out of the ring three times and won?

No. Chisora would be next.

 

I've stopped caring and listening to what the promoters says. Been watching boxing for near 40 years, heard all the BS and back and forths. Promoters say what they think is the right answer, what the public wants to hear, usually having to be politically correct with networks or obviously vague.

I hope the same thing. I like the chicken analogy BTW

 

This isn't the 70s when guys fought more often. There were about 3-4 news outlets. Now there's literally HUNDREDS. Poor comparison because the times and dynamics of the sport, AND society, and vastly different.

Well, if you wanted AJ vs Wilder he should have beaten Parker to make it happen. That was the plan. Bodybuilder did his part. Chicken legs failed.

 

Chisora is more worn then a 10 year old tire. And Wilder still looked poor against him. Doubtful Aj would care about Chisora had he won.

BTW, you do know that was going to be Chisora's farewell fight, yes? Though he might have changed his mind (Hope not) by losing a close decision against the top 5 ATG hardest hitter ever in Wilder

 

You might bend over and accept it, others wouldn't. He called him out, put it on paper until he sees that it will be the same old talk from fury that people get sucked in by time and time again.

 

i didn’t say Joshua was 100% at fault for these fights not being made, just saying the fact he has gone his whole career without getting wilder or fury in the ring is wild

 

AJ/Hearn had no issues taking Turki's money prior to this so I ain't buying that excuse. We'll just have to wait and see.

 

Fury being tied up with having three fights w/ Wilder. 2 with Fury. Fury's "retirements".

Wilder choosing Fury for less money over AJ. And losing to Parker when they were finally going to meet.

This is an unfortunate part of boxing. It should have happened in 2019 (Fury the WBO International and AJ WBA, IBF and WBO). But if you look at a side by side comparison of their schedules and who they fought at the time and unfortunate losses (by AJ) pretty much kept it on the backburner.

Hoping it happens later this year as both seem keen on it finally.

 

It's not an excuse it's impossible to agree a fight without a contract

 

It's not impossible to accept a challenge and then begin negotiations. Turki is the one bankrolling it and he put the ball in his court.

But again, we'll see if the fight actually gets made or if AJ wants 2 years worth of tune ups first.