I wasn't impressed with Joshua

Exactly, you can't compare it to the small and weak era of the 70's as an example.

Just compare knockout-ratios by weight classes and follow the pattern.

 

Exactly. These guys are heavyweights, any genuine heavyweight can hurt you unless you have a McCall like chin. Look at Holyfield's fight with Bert Cooper, he was hurt way more than Joshua was last night, he even took a count but nobody is saying he has a glass chin.

Now I'm not saying AJ has an iron chin like Evander but it's too early to suggest his chin is china.

 

His power looked legit.

Showed some boxing skills but also was out boxed at times. I think being out boxed at times was mostly to do with him being dazed and letting the adrenaline get to him and being a bit macho choosing to trade with Whyte.

Showed grit and fighting spirit.

Showed he can take a punch.

Overall in some ways not as impressive as when he just blew guys away but in some ways more impressive as he showed important attributes like heart and (some) chin/ability to recover.

 

Think Wlad would've schooled him at this stage.

 

Wilder would get Joshua out of there early.

Joshua is rather one dimensional in his technique.
Both he and Wilder are both strong country bumpkins, but Wilder has the better technique and offence.

 

Joshua is from Watford that's not rural England lol.

 

thats the other side of the m.25
hes a northerner.

 

Unless Vlad got smacked in his China Chops.

 

Lmao very true

 

I really liked what I saw last night. He went for the kill early, he couldn't get it. Then he kinda got reckless and got hurt but he remained disciplined. He started to box and broke down an opponent who appeared to have a very good chin.

I was impressed with him more than I was with Wilder or with Fury before the Wlad fight.

 

He's had 14 fights. That's the first time anyone's been able to absorb any of his punches and throw something back and I'm not sure why people think Heavyweights suffering for a round when they get hit by another 250lb monster is signs of something bad?

What matters there is how he recovers, how he sees out the round, how he adjusts and how he reasserts himself. Joshua ticked all those boxes.

The 2 best HWs of the modern era, Lewis and Wlad both had nights like that. That's what's great about HW boxing.

 

Be real. Whyte was the best fighter Joshua has even faced. He's the level of fighter Wilder has built his resume in KO'ing.
Joshua would have a better future if he follows the lead of other great UK HW champions and defected across the pond and hooked up with Al Haymon and a solid trainer.

 

Deontay Wilder's 15th opponent - Reggie Pena
Tyson Fury's 15th opponent - out of shape Chisora

At worst, he's right where Fury was in terms of development - although I'd say Whyte at this stage beats that version of Chisora.

Would quite like to see Whyte in there with Chisora even now - would be a good fight.

What's clear though, is that neither of those guys were in there fighting KO artists on Whyte's level at this stage. Wilder would have been beaten by Whyte at that point and Fury wouldn't have knocked him out, he'd have tried to outbox him.

 

Whyte's probably a better fighter than the entirety of Wilder's resume except maybe Stiverne.

 

I was impressed with the power and combinations he showed against a hard hitting and skilled heavy weight. Joshua's power is scary scary. He is going to kill someone in the ring with that uppercut.