April 1 - Anthony Joshua vs Jermaine Franklin @02 (no PPV)

if you don't think it's a good resume, I've got some bad news for you.
Let's take a look at the rest of the division, and apply your criteria.

• Parker: best wins against Ruiz Jr. and Hughie, he got the a-side nod in both.
• Joyce: has a win over a Parker who himself has been on a steady decline. That's it so far barring a green Dubios.
• Wilder: has one non controversial top flight win over Stiverne, and his two wins over Ortiz where he got A-side help in both.
• Ortiz: best wins are Jennings and Charles Martin.
• Ruiz Jr. has a win over Joshua and a very old Ortiz.

Outside the top 10 is a wasteland.

Basically, Whyte's earnt his spot as much as the next man. Outside of Fury, Usyk and Joshua there isn't much to write home about.

 

The fact it is on April 1st tells it's own story.

 

IF AJ was fighting 3-4 times a year, then it's is fine to fight Franklin.

But we know he is not doing that, are we realistically saying AJ fights 1 April, Dillian also wants to fight before the AJ fight, so we're getting both these fights in before AJ/Whyte in July/August.

It's absolutely pie in the Sky, AJ last fought three times in a year in 2016, for context I didn't even know my wife at this point!

So we are having AJ vs Fanklin and at best we'll see AJ vs Whyte in September, and then what we get AJ vs Deontay Wilder in December? Like it's not happening.

AJs 23 is Fanklin and Whyte, Whyte is the massive proxy world title fight. It's a fight I have minimal interest in either.

 

Because financially he never had to fight 2 or 3 tines a year. Now if he wants to be back earning big money he has to rebuild by doing that.

 

Im sorry to tell you this but if your gonna say looking to make money with minimum risk your not gonna like 99% of boxers. I mean Franklin has a 14 kos from 21 so yeah he isnt a concussive puncher but he clearly isnt feather fisted also Ruiz wasnt feather fisted too. Look here i am with this

• if AJ beats Franklin does it make him as good as Fury or Usyk ? No,
• is AJ still probably in the top 5 HWs in the world ? Probably top 5 definetly top 10.
• Is fighting Franklin alone enough this year ? No but im not gonna criticise a fighter for fighting once a year until the end of the year and he has actually fought once.
• Is Franklin any worse than the boxers Wilder, Usyk or Fury fought (outside of Fury Wilder trilogy) ? No.

Its a decent fight that isnt PPV worthy (i dont have Dazn so more than likely wont watch it) and is probably the best fight for Joshua hinself right now.

 

He will be fighting 3 times this year. Opponent pending. To put it in perspective Franklin had the full agreed contract for 10 days ahead on yesterdays announcement. Last Friday his promoter asked for another $150k despite everything being agreed. The nonsense that goes on in boxing is crazy. The work is being put in for Dillian Whyte fight in July as its being sounded as though Tyson Fury will fight a potential exhibition after Usyk (part of the hold up is Fury wants a two fight deal in Saudi). AJ will then target Fury or Wilder likely in the middle east or Hrgovic for the IBF or Dubois for WBA if they can get the split increased based on the fact it will be a vacant title.

 

I really don't see AJ fighting three times but you know more than me.

Fury is just woeful.

 

"Strange, I could have sworn he put together a string of wins over Allen -> Chisora -> Helenius -> Browne -> Parker -> Chisora -> Rivas -> Wach. Now sure, he got the nod in some close fights being a-side at home, but some of you act like he's Campbell Hatton ffs."

If Allen, Browne and Wach all merit mentions on the Whyte "resume" then how can, for example, Joyce be limited to Parker and Dubois? Jennings and Takam are easily better than Allen/Browne/Wach and even the likes of Lenroy Thomas, who is quite a way down on Joyce's record, beat Allen.

Whyte's wins also don't compare well in terms of the dominance of his performances. Chisora x2, Parker, Rivas and Franklin were 50-50 wars with home/A-side advantage, Allen, Helenius and Wach were tougher than expected and went the distance, Browne got destroyed in 3 by Allen soon after. And this is omitting Whyte's three brutal KO defeats, to green AJ, badly faded Povetkin and Fury.

Another metric is to ask how many losses would Whyte likely have if he fought another fighter's opponents? I could easily see Whyte having 3-4 losses against Ruiz's opponents for example (Parker away/B-side, Joshua x2, Ortiz), most by KO.

 

Whyte's wins were to show his steady progression through the rankings.

I didn't mention Joyce v Takam because why would I bring up what was a bad performance and a premature stoppage (against an aging fighter). No need for me to labour my point with endless examples. No one wants to read an essay.

Jennings was coming off a loss to Rivas, who Whyte beat.

And if Whyte had fought all of Joyce's opponents at the stages of their career Joyce fought them. Whyte would still be unbeaten.

Oh and Joyce ducked Ortiz btw.

Edit: I get you don't like Whyte, but that was all pretty pointless.

 

It was a very embarrassing display, especially after they way some of the Matchroom fans had been talking him up prior to the fight.

 

Yes yes, we know what has happened in the HW divison over the last 5 years, we've had constant updates about it by mitch, and no, it doesn't change my mind on Whyte's resume (a word I have come to hate due to a certain person on this forum haha).

 

There wasn't a consistent rise in competition on Whyte's record. Sure it started with Allen but it ended with Wach, with Browne in the middle. The point you were making wasn't clear.

You were listing the apparent best wins of various fighters but only including two or so for Whyte's rivals (was a green Hughie a better win for Parker than Chisora?) A more fair comparison (in no particular order) would be:

Wilder: Ortiz x2, Stiverne, Duhuapas

Whyte: Chisora x2, Parker, Rivas

Parker: Chisora x2, Ruiz, Takam, Hughie

Joyce: Dubois, Parker, Jennings, Takam

Ruiz: Joshua, Ortiz, Arreola, Liakhovich

Ortiz: Jennings, Martin, Hammer, Scott

Whyte has the joint most losses and the most losses by KO. Whyte and Parker also benefited the most from A-side advantage, usually with contentious decisions.

Joyce stopped Takam in 6 rounds, faster than anyone else has. Makhmudov wasn't able to stop him over 10 recently and Joshua was on course to go 12 with him. Joyce took a lot of shots but when does he not? Taking punishment is a key part of his style and it doesn't matter how many rounds you lose if you grind the opponent down in 6.

"And if Whyte had fought all of Joyce's opponents at the stages of their career Joyce fought them. Whyte would still be unbeaten."

I don't think that can be said with much confidence. Whyte doesn't have Joyce's chin or pedigree and is only ever an uppercut away from getting KO'd.

"Oh and Joyce ducked Ortiz btw."

That was pretty endemic back in the day.

 

Wardley stops Ali very early.

 

Any news on tickets?