Anthony Joshua is still a superb fighter

He's good, but his legacy has been very tainted. Unless he beats Fury and clears the top 10, he'll never be great. Especially considering how weak this new era is bar Fury and Usyk.

This isn't a Lennox Lewis scenario because Lewis lost twice over his entire career, but Lewis got significantly better later in his career after his loss to Mccall and rewrote the wrong by decimating Rahman in the immediate rematch. Joshua has been mentally scarred by his KO loss to Ruiz. This is a Klitschko type scenario, except Joshua doesn't have an Emmanuel Steward. Klitschko reached the elite level, just like Holyfield, Holmes, Lewis, Foreman, Vitali, Tyson, etc. Joshua wont. Joshua will loose again because he's not smart enough to ditch his amateur team.

Ibeabuchi would probably beat Joshua in all honesty

 

I don't think Joshua is still a superb fighter. Both Ruiz fights and the Usyk bout showed that whatever he once was, he is not that anymore. Yes, he is still a good fighter but he is no longer superb or at an elite level.

 

It's not the result that matters. He should have beaten Ruiz so that's not the key. The problem is how he looks. In general, he looks tentative, slow and lacking the desire to fight He does not look anything like the guy who seemed on his way to being an all-time top ten heavyweight.

 

I think he is very good fighter and I have more respect for him now than I did before the Uysk fight. He fought like a true champion but got beat by a superior opponent in Uysk. He never stopped fighting all the way to the end.

I remember when Vladimir lost to Sanders and Brewster he was heavily criticized. He overcame those losses and became a better fighter. It will be interesting to see if Joshua is able to do the same. I think he would be wise to not face Uysk again at least not right away.

 

I thought that was a poor performance against Usyk.

 

Joshua was a fine champion that always wanted to fight the best. Unlike the rest of the frauds. Like most champs he prob got to
Comfortable. When you’re making millions and have FU money in the bank the prospect of getting punched by the best in the world must wear Thin. Most champs don’t last long except the few dedicated psychopaths.
AJ should hang his head high he had nothing to be upset about. Has wins over damn good competition (best hw scene in twenty years) . History will look better on him then they do now especially if he can get some halfway decent wins in the next several years.

 

Lewis was much more fluid than Joshua. It's like comparing Lomachenko to Pernell Whitaker. Lomachenko looks great with his matrix stuff, slips, rolls, angles and combinations but he's stiff in comparison to sweat pea. Whitaker had the better jab, could fight on the inside better, could move better, and more smoothly entered angles when he pivoted.

Joshua looks decent with his combinations and when he's on the backfoot but he's too tight with it and he doesn't seem too relaxed. Lewis was much better at controlling distance, had a more dynamic jab, was more fluid and relaxed and seemed much more like a natural boxer.

 

It’s just 2 losses he doesn’t suck. People like to constantly pick at elite fighters it’s ridiculous

 

He's good but he lacks too many things. Also, when he gets hurt he's a bit of a Frank Bruno, little survival skills. If Wlad got him a couple years earlier, he would have finished him. He reminds me a lot of Frank Bruno, more fluid and athletic though. He also seems like a good guy.

 

And I thought he was simply beaten by a great fighter. Joshua made a nice adjustment after losing the first few rounds to get back into the fight. I think he is going to need to bring more pressure and try to rough up Uysk in the rematch which I not sure he sure he will be able to. It's simply not his style to fight too apply pressure like Chisora did. Uysk's footwork and angles are a nightmare for anyone.

 

I think the Ruiz loss was mainly due to that one punch that he never recovered from (Rumsfeld did a good summary of that), but in Usyk he just met the better man on the night, but still fought his heart out. What more can you ask for?

Yes, he will disappointed for not starting faster and being more assertive in the early rds, but that's easier said than done. In the end Usyk was just better.

AJ has constantly looked to face the best and given us some really good fights, so, yes, he might not ever be a top 10 or even top 20 HW, but he's trying to create the best legacy possible and you can't really ask for more than that.