Interesting to think about. If the mega fight, the bout Eddie Hearn called "easily the biggest fight in boxing" between two undefeated champions had occurred in 2018, how much credit would Joshua receive today? A bout between two undefeated top HW's did occur between Wilder and Fury shortly after this time period, yet many folks are very quick to write off Wilder here (the same folks bringing up 40 year old Povetkin or 285 pound Ruiz as a great win for Joshua). Wilder has always had his detractors, and one can relate to some of their points, yet there seems to be something more there. People these days are acting like Wilder wasn't ever a reigning champion worthy of taking part in a mega fight; the "biggest fight in boxing". But he was. It seems as if, because Joshua never fought Wilder, and Fury beat him in dominant fashion, a contingent of folks are trying to sweep Wilder under the rug and act like he was never even champ. I'm just wondering, and I'd like to know what you think - do you believe that Joshua would get more credit for destroying Wilder than Fury has?
I think Fury gotten more credit for beating Wilder than Joshua would have, cause he did it after almost 3 year lay off and being on the brink of suicide. Also, nobody expected Fury to do this to Wilder the way he did. If AJ knocked Wilder out it would probably have been his biggest win, but that was always a likely outcome.
He still wouldn't be truly undisputed until beating Fury, who still held the claim to the lineal championship.
Likely? Joshua has shown quite a lot of fragility in his career, and his inability to recover after getting hurt is possibly the worst among champions in the past 20 years.. This, along with poor defense for a top HW against the right hand is not something to be overlooked against a prime, champion version of Wilder. The oddsmakers had Joshua a very slight favorite, but in 2018 it was more or less a pick 'em fight.
Yeah, that's why AJ KOing Wilder was a likely outcome. Just like the other way around. Few people expected Fury to knock Wilder out.
Yes, it's exactly the same dynamic as their shared opponent Wlad. Fury was given a little clap and AJ was the next phenom. It's also good to point out that Hearn and most people thought Fury was getting KO'd and also in the rematch. The narrative nobody thought Wilder was good back then is a rewrite of history. Everyone thought he wasn't the greatest boxer but very dangerous. If AJ had beaten him it would have been an incredible feat to beat the man who had KO'd everyone he'd ever faced etc. Of course the reason Fury did fight Wilder is because AJ wouldn't. The talks between AJ and WIlder fell apart and Fury stepped in. The narrative always was that Wilder ducked but now we see how much AJ has avoided Wilder's callouts for years and that Wilder has actually taken riskier fights (non title) since Fury, it seems unlikely AJ didn't duck. I think a fearless AJ from the pre-Wlad times would have had a decent chance of winning against Wilder, but after he became cautious Wilder would probably have bombed him out even though it was always one of those fights where either could get the KO. And that's precisely why it didn't happen. Too risky for the cash cow. Boxing ability is overrated. Look at Browne versus Chagaev. Chagaev was a gold medallist, way better trained boxer than latecomer Browne, was winning the fight, had a KD, then one counter RH and the fight was done. That's what Hearn was terrified of.
Wilder is on record declining many offers to fight AJ and he confirmed himself he chose to fight Fury even tho AJ's team offered him more money, lol.
This part is a bit off. The Joshua Wilder talks at the time did not fall apart, for then Fury to enter in. Wilder later admitted that he chose Fury over Joshua, even tho it was for less money. Also, they entered negotiations several times, so its kinda silly to call either man a duck. However, there was a moment when Wilder´s side offered Joshua a huge payday, but the catch was that they had to agree to it before seeing the paperwork or the details. It was the weirdest thing ever. And of course then there was the DAZN offer to Wilder, which was turned down.