Anthony Joshuas Legacy

I think he'll be remembered as someone who for a very short time was very good.

Like a Bowe, Vitali, Fury.

He is certainly below Wlad and Usyk.

 

Above average product.
Elite level marketing/packaging.

The Apple or Dyson of boxers.

 

Above Haye and Bruno, so that’s actually pretty damn good for being British. Dubois has a chance to pull ahead him, but I doubt he will.

 

Let's examine his winning resume for a bit:

Dillian Whyte= pre prime but solid, as both were young
Dominick Breazeale= Fringe contender that didn't even deserve a top 10 ranking
Wladimir Klitschko= Tail end of his career but still dangerous enough to beat most guys around
Joseph Parker= Good but way before he hit his stride
Alexander Povetkin= Old but still decent enough to beat Whyte and go toe to toe with Hunter
Andy Ruiz= Only known for beating him, later beat on the corpses of Ortiz (if you even give him the win) and Arreola (lol), not much there.
Pulev= Far from terrible, but he is the type of guy a top fighter pads his record with to say he has beaten a ranked foe
Helenius= Older than Ray Arcel
Wallin= fringe contender that only got in for beating the shell of a blown up Gassiev and due to cutting Fury

Usyk losses don't hurt him at all. Ruiz loss hurts him quite a bit. Dubois loss hurts him a lot, due to how easily he was dispatched.

Around top 50-40, all time, give or take. I used to think he was more of a top 30 type, but I've changed my mind in retrospect.

 

Gifted gold in a corrupt Olympics
Bought his first belt off Charles Martin - A stripped belt
Won vacant belts off an out of retirement Wlad who almost killed him
Lost belts to Andy Ruiz Jr on 3 weeks notice then won them back
Thoroughly outboxed by Uysk - No shame Usyk is special but then he threw a tantrum afterwards
Tried to buy the IBF vacant belt one more time and got chinned by Dubius

His best performance is probably Parker but Parker totally bricked himself in that fight and didn't want to rely on his chin and get stuck into AJ.

Atleast he can claim he beat someone on away soil....Francis Nnganou. LOL.

Only two heavyweights differentiated themselves in this era. Dubious could go onto lose to Bakole/Zhang even lose a Hurgovic rematch.

 

3rd or 4th best of his era. Comfortably below Usyk and Fury. Wilder is up for debate

 

Bowe, Fury, Vitali, Walcott, Norton, Patterson....he will cluster with these guys. Third tier greats.

 

Fought a very consistent level of opponent from very early in his career, was marketed brilliantly and was involved in some very good fights, who knows, he could still become a 3 time heavyweight champion.

It's easy to kick someone when they're at their lowest but Joshua deserves respect for the impact hes made in british boxing. He got battered on Saturday but went out on his gum shield, he was still trying to get up whilst licking the canvas.

 

Very good fighter who fell short of being great. His legacy maybe that he was able to bring interest and money back into the division after it had fallen out of favour with the fans.

 

Will be remembered for one big uppercut and for losing his belt to a fat D level HW.

 

He's the fill in guy. Fury beats Wlad then disappears ( metaphorically speaking ). Joshua steps up and beats the rest minus Wilder. He'd be outside my top 20 all time heavies, I reckon, at least.

 

He doesn’t make the hall of fame in my book. I felt he needed the Dubois win for that. And he lost badly.
That doesn’t mean he wasn’t good. He was, he just wasn’t as good as many believed or had hoped.
He beat the old guard of Pulev, Povetkin, Wlad.
He beat solid top 10 guys Parker and Whyte
He avenged his loss to Ruiz also good.

This loss hurts him. He looked shockingly bad. I was surprised.
But he is still better than a lot of other guys, probably a top 40 guy in the division’s history.

 

He certainly didnt live up to the expectations.

People seem to have forgotten it now for whatever reason, but the expectations about AJ were HUGE. He felt short... really short.