Is AJ the new Wlad Klit?

It took more rounds because pulev isnt some pushover like you people in this forum thought he was. He has decent recovery and the heart to get back up even after taking multiple knockout blows from Klitschko and Joshua until he couldn't anymore.

 

Don't forget that Manny did it with Lennox, first, although he remained a bit more of a tough guy.

Taking the tall guy and making him a jabngrab type seems to be standard these days, and until refs get a little more quick on the draw to deduct points, it always will be.

Won't work against Fury, though, will it?

 

That and I'd say he probably has the closest to a Wlad K 1-2 among world rated heavies today - but that said, his is no Wlad K.'s either...

 

He’s a poor man’s wlad , he don’t have wlad’s jab, footwork, left hook or right hand. Lower IQ and less power.

 

He's as good as Wlad on the outside, minus the punching power in his long range jabs. I think Joshua is slightly better on the inside. Both share similar weaknesses where they gas a bit, and aren't the most durable.

 

In no way is AJ as good as Klitschko. Prime Wlad wrecked Prime Pulev in short order. AJ huffed and puffed and finally managed to overcome 2000 year old Pulev in the late rounds after Kubrat made a fight of it.

 

This.

It's like when you go shopping for a new Landrover and come back with a Jiangling Landwind instead. Nobody's fooled.

 

Joshua hasn't changed his style since the Ruiz loss. He looked exactly the same.

He's had a more "cautious" style ever since the Wlad fight in early 2017 ! Ever since he realized he can't blow decent opponents out inside 3 rounds.
He was quite cautious against Takam and Parker. He was fighting on the back foot against Ruiz in New York until he floored Ruiz in the 3rd. Then he went in and got caught.
In fact, when he lost that one, a lot of people complained that he made a mistake of trying to box slick instead of just steamrolling him even earlier. Which was a weird criticism.

The Pulev fight was the same. He went in on Pulev when he had him hurt in the 3rd. Difference is Pulev is a slow old man who couldn't hope to catch Joshua like Ruiz did.

 

I kind of see him as a mix between Wlad and Bowe. Right now I still don't think he's the finished article, he's still evolving and improving as a fighter as all good fighters yet to peak should be doing. While he's 31 he came to the game late and so still has time to improve.

He like Wlad doesn't have the best stamina or work rate and is prone to gassing and so seems to be more conservative with his out put and obviously is a bit chinny, though I do think he has a better chin than Wlad. He isn't as gun shy as Wlad or prone to clinching as he can fight inside and unlike Wlad he knows how to counter punch as we saw with the right hand counter that dropped Pulev. But he doesn't have Wlad's left hook, speed, true one punch KO power or perhaps level of focus as the loss to Ruiz proved.

Like Bowe he has a good inside game for a big man and a brutal uppercut. He like Bowe tends to stand in front of his opponents too much and doesn't move his head but he at least as adopted a high guard to mitigate that so isn't as easy to hit as Bowe and he does move a bit better than Bowe. He used to have a jab like Bowe meaning it was heavy and mainly used to set up power shots but AJ's jab is becoming more rounded and versatile he uses the lead hand now in more ways than before. But unlike Bowe he doesn't have the stamina, work rate Bowe had but he's far more focused than Bowe.

 

We can certainly question AJs punching power compared to prime Wlad. Watch the effects of single punches both from Wlad and AJ on Pulev. How many punches did AJ total did AJ need to land clean to knock out Pulev? Must have been 3x more than Wlad required.

 

This is true, people are projecting their own opinions after the Ruiz loss but in reality he's been becoming more cautious even before the Wlad fight, he was far more reckless when he fought Whyte, then again after Wlad almost had him out again adjusted.

If there was any difference in Joshua's approach I'd say he's less willing to gas out now, where before I think he'd have come out banging in the 4th he's more conservative with his out put not because he's gun shy because he's still going for the KO's, but he knows he can carry his power late and can bide his time and not force it because he'll get another chance for the KO later on which exactly what happened vs Pulev.

 

I've never had any doubt Wlad hits harder than Joshua or anyone else right now including Wilder. Hell I don't even think Lewis had his kind of one punch switch your lights off power and I'm a huge Lewis fan who thinks Lewis sparks Wlad out early.

Joshua hits damn hard but his power is more that clubbing heavy handed type of power, he'll hurt you badly but he needs to land a few more to finish you. While Wlad had more snap and could poleaxe you with one shot out of the blue much more like Wilder.

 

No, that's giving him too much credit, I'd say.
In no known universe would Wlad even lose to Ruiz, but if he did, he would not be THAT defensive in a rematch against a short obese man with limited HW power.