Boxers who have vanished

Beale mentioned one of the great vanished boxers - Alex Dilmaghani. FOTY then three nondescript fights in four years.

 

Someone mentioned Anthony Small - He went full on into the Taliban Loony Bin and was living in a tent or something?

 

Arguing with himself, who would have guessed the guy isn't the full schilling!!

 

"Does Joshua have any elite traits - certainly not."

He was able to annihilate Kevin inside 1.5 rounds. No one else ever came close to doing that. Unless Kevin took a dive (which is a stretch given that he only has three stoppage losses in 60 fights) this suggests that Joshua had an extremely potent offensive arsenal.

His best win is obviously Wlad, who was ofc 41 but I doubt Haye and especially Byrd (for instance) would have been favoured to beat that version.

Everyone is aware of Joshua's limitations (they're probably excessively down on him rn coming off the Dubois destruction and rematch duck) but the strong consensus is he's Wlad's 3rd best opponent out of 69, behind Povetkin and Fury.

"The era has been absolutely rotten"

It sounds like you're speaking about your life more than anything else. As male boxing fans age they tend to disparage the current era (ad infinitum).

"the Lennox Lewis era"

Which was the first post-American era (1999-2003), proof in the eyes of many boxing fans of the diminished talent pool. It spanned eight fights, with Lewis being one-punch KO'd by a J. Ruiz and Maskaev x2 victim in one of them.

Grant and Kirk Johnson were top 3 HW's in 1999 and 2000 respectively. Derrick Jefferson was top 10 in 1999. Two former middleweights were the 5th and 6th best heavyweights in the world in 2003. If two ex-middleweights were top 10 ranked now this would be "proof" that this was a "dire era".

I'd guess your over the top disparagement of Joshua ("Danny Williams level" etc.) is based on your psychological need to distance him from Lewis, with whom he shares striking similarities.

 

Finally, some common sense

Beale, your a staple mate of the forum, from your Mr Klopp days but the Joshua talk from you is boring and just not correct in the slightest

 

I stated Joshua has zero elite traits and comparing Joshua to Lennox Lewis is like comparing James McClean to Messi.

What am I missing from the fight below that makes Joshua an ATG?

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That lad quoted a win against Kevin 'Punchbag' Johnson - the odds on this zero threat fight at the Bookmakers were 1/200 odds on.

All to their own opinions but I have never and will never rate Joshua as anywhere near great discussions.

Joshua and Wilder were the poster boys of boxing mediocrity during a very poor era and even that fight was ducked.

 

You certainly seem like someone who isn't easily swayed by propaganda.

I'm not sure how you feel about this one but for me it has to be Martin Bakole, who I believe has been based in Airdrie for many a year and is trained and managed by the excellent Billy Nelson, who deserves a world title shot. Bakole must be thrown in against both Dubois and Usyk.

 

Prior to being beaten by Tony Thompson, David Price beat John Mcdermott, Sam Sexton, Audley Harrison, and Matt Skelton in under 8 rounds combined.

At that point, many would have considered him a favourite over Tyson Fury at that point in his career, especially given his own struggle with the opponent they have in common.

That's the power of a good promoter selling a false narrative, especially to the casual fans; it's how they sell fights and build potential future match-up's. Most of which unfortunately never materialise, for one reason or another.

Joshua was a promoter's dream and a cash cow, especially after the London Olympics, and he was matched accordingly.

Like Price, Joshua is genetically gifted but extremely flawed as a fighter, and very fortunate Fury spent his peak years in the wilderness; otherwise, he'd likely never have won any version of a world title.

He's lost 4 times: twice he was outboxed by Usyk. Ruiz made him quit, and Dubiois knocked him the **** out.

Dillian Whyte had in no man's land with one arm, and a gun-shy Kiltchko had him all but out of their.

IMO, he's around the same level as Herbie Hide and Henry Akwinande in terms of past British heavyweight champions, and back in the day they tried to build the Herbie Hide vs. Danny Williams fight for many a year between 1999 and 2005, but it never happened.

Danny Williams between 1999-05 would have been much more than a live-dog for Hide, and thus for Joshua by modern standards at his peak.

 

Totally agree Bakole deserves a shot at a World Title.

If Bakole needs a tune up versus Joshua, the Humble heart would not stand up to the onslaught from Bakole and I don't think it lasts any more than 3 rounds.

 

That is what I call a good balanced post with a fair assessment of Joshua.

 

That was a good read. An excellent contribution! The likes of Danny Williams.... so overlooked these days. If Danny were in his pomp now, he'd have been up there in the PPV's knocking the stuffing out of the likes of Chisora and Whyte. Yes, Chisora beat him but that was a shot to pieces Williams. It's a shame he's still boxing. The only thing not going for Williams is the fact he wasn't a vulgar loudmouth lunatic like the woman beating Chisora.

 

Excellent post mate fully agree with that take on him.

 

Tony Bellew, guy fell off the face of the earth after destroying prime Haye.

 

His body eventually landed on the canvas in Manchester facing the sky and since that lucky Usyk punch, his gob has been everywhere even Australia.