Thats the thing he can't afford to rely on safety first approach since his brand and reputation is based on being a bulldozing ko artist who stops his opponents within a few rounds. That's how he's sold to the casuals. A few months ago there was training footage of him preparing for Povetkin and he was adopting the same tactics wlad was using with his coach. Which was back peddling and then working on holding. So I expect the povetkin fight to be a cagey stinker.
I don't know if he has stagnated to be honest, i thought he was a very talented mid range fighter but he seems to prefer to box from the outside more and more which made his last 2 fights boring and Wladimir-esque, we will know better after his fight against Povetkin, on paper this fight is an all out war but you never know if the referee will allow it. Either Joshua will become a Wlad 2.0 version or a more exciting multi dimensional fighter, i prefer the latter.
He's scared of being taken out, 41 year old Vlad has spooked him badly. Vlad was also outboxing him at 41 yrs because Waldo's talent is on a different level completely. And this is why Hearn and Froch's coach are terrified of Wilder and Fury(in form) as both can beat their cow using their strengths. Hearn plays down Fury but Froch's coach worked with him for a while and knows the talent there. Also consider that since Klitschko, Joshua has fought significantly smaller fighters who weren't getting many KO's, and he still looked bad. That's how crap he really is relatively speaking and considering the incredible money pumped into his coaching and training. Prime Vlad would destroy T-Rex armed Takam and Parker, leave them cold on the canvas. Who would even dispute this? Fury would win every single round at least, even while fighting half of them in clumsy southpaw out of boredom and while Uncle Meth gave him completely inane or downright ridiculous advice in the corner. Speaking of Uncle Meth, it's hilarious that fraud won't get any of the big money from Tyson's comeback. While everyone is shitting on Davison, let's all remember when the wise uncle told Fury in the final round of the Vlad fight, ahead on points, Vlad super puncher not hurt and needing a desperate KO to win ... that it was time to open up and take Klitschko out. The man is a genius!
Im an AJ fan an all and i have also had the feeling that the Wlad fight has had abit of a negative effect as it has maybe made AJ doubt himself and has made him more cautious as a result. Hopefully AJ goes back to his destructive self vs povetkin. If he fights cautious again hes gonna start losin abit of all the british hype around him.
He isn't going toe to toe with Povetkin, I promise you. There was a tweet a couple of months which showed off his strategy in training, which was to keep on the back foot, jab and then when the sparring partner was mimicking povetkin's style and tried to get on the inside, it was time for AJ to smother and hold. Rinse and repeat.
I'm already expecting that, especially the referees in the UK seem to completely ban inside fighting, it's laughable, it becomes a lost art, just look at the Parker fight.
I just think it's a case of you're only as good, or in this case exciting as your last fight. AJ in the Parker and Takam fight boxed disciplined fights, but didn't excite the masses. If he ruins Povetkin in 4-5 rounds, people will get hyped again. It is what it is.
It tells you one thing though. Even though a Man like Joshua probably trains everyday like the last. Blood, sweat and tears for Boxing. And he still has weaknesses, no-one is perfect. Sadly for Joshua, there’s one man who wants to legitimately take his head off and that man goes by the name of DEONTAY WILDER
He needs to send a message by blasting Povetkin out of there. This fight is the equivalent to a 2018 souped up Porsche racing a decade old rusty ford fiesta that is running on empty. You wouldn't expect the porsche to be cautious and wary of how the ford is maneuvering around bends and what speed it's doing. You expect the porsche to leave it in it's dust. Anything less and you have to start questioning if that porsche is fraudulent and made up of junk.
His Brand relies on him having a bodybuilder like physique. And it just so happens he’s also a Professional Boxer, Speaks fluent English, he’s from a ethnic minority, and has millions of male and female fans around the world= A CORPORATE Dream Joshua dosent need to risk having a brawl again, he just has to keep on attracting the big PPV Numbers and 90K Fans and he’s good. Even if he has a stinker against Povetkin, Hearn will just tease the next fight will be a “brawl” and it’ll turn out to be dog*hit, Rinse and Repeat until he goes to the US Market
He is clearly adapting his style with Wilder in mind imo. Another reason why I think they are happy to wait another year for it.
Wouldn’t fighting like that against Wilder, aid a Wilder knockout ? Wilder’s right hand and long ass jab, is perfect for a static fighter. Surely Joshua would need to brawl with Wilder like he did with Wlad to win that fight.
If Joshua would fight against Wilder like he did against Parker, i have no doubt that Wilder would take his head off, Wilder is very confident from the outside because he can set up murderous knockout blows, Joshua needs to close the distance against him unless he wants to get his cherry popped.
I dont think brawling with a puncher liek wilder is a good idea. Work the jab, keep the distance and be patient. Wilder is ,well, wild and a good accurate jab will keep him at bay imo, theres not much difference in the reach, i think its about 2 - 3 cm. Joshua is very good at juging the distance, if he can master the jab he could be very difficult to beat against this current crop of heavies.
