Is Anthony Joshua playing it safe?

Well, AJ is a liar and he is very very protected.

Let's see
Why is fight not announce yet when WBO said that they are giving Eddie one week for negotiations in MAY ?

Why rematch for Mandatory ?

fighting with one extra month training in his pocket for a fighter that is a lot smaller than he is



Remember last time Usyk fought Chisora, ring was small and gloves have little to no padding in them. (but commision approved it) They won't let One of Usyks team members to put his hand in them to inspect.

Judges are as bias as in Texas, if not more.

Everything he is doing is safe, Fighting only in UK. always home, always with people he knows and people that are on his side.

Now look at Usyk. ALways fighting in the enemies territory. Winning belts on by one and goind forward with his goal. Challenging fighters that are a lot bigger than him and AJ still makes him wait so many months. So many things are against Usyk and everything is in favor of AJ.

 

Hearn wanted to make the Fury vs Joshua fight more than anyone.

AJ doesn't make him money if he doesn't fight.

Also, Joshua doesn't let Hearn dictate to him.

Joshua will say get me X, or Y if X isn't playing ball, and Hearn does it.

Also, isn't their contract coming to end soon?

So, potentially, Matchroom may miss out on promoting that fight if AJ doesn't resign to Hearn.

 

Anyone that fights Usyk is taking on a challenge

Not playing it safe

He definitely has the most tricky, intriguing fight after negotiations fell through between him and Fury

Fury has gone back to the well where he knows there's still water

 

Eeeh, no. Usyk is a very tricky opponent for Joshua. Awkward southpaw who switches up on angles, with awesome stamina to boot. I have Usyk as number 3 in the division. You could argue that Wilder and Ruiz is ahead of him, but even then Usyk is top 5.

Top 5 is not playing it safe.

 

Usyk will beat Joshua.

 

If he seriously believes that Usyk poses no threat to him, then he is going to be in for a very, very rude awakening

 

Given the fact he has failed to either meet the number 1 and number 2 in the division despite having 3 years to make the fight- yes.

In that time we have had Parker, Povektin, Ruiz Jr and Pulev.

Parker and Ruiz Jr were worthy opponents at the time. However, it would have been a lot better if he had faced Fury and/or Wilder.

TheUsyk fight is his toughest since Klitschko and the toughest fight out there other than Fury or Wilder so he gets credit for taking it.

 

A lot of people have some fixed views on Joshua and his promoter. The latter in particular is a polarising character and that leads to polarised views, both positive and negative.

I can't pretend to be free from bias, but trying to be as objective as possible, I don't think AJ is any more cautious than most fighters and decidedly less cautious than some. He's not attained the position he's in now by being super cautious, but neither did he get there by taking the riskiest choice time after time.

As the unified champion the choice of opponent is rarely his any more. The only lever Hearn can use to manage risk is to use the commercial power that AJ has accrued over time. That can buy control over the promotion, the decisions over the fight conditions, useful clauses in contracts such as rematch etc etc. Just like Canelo or Floyd in his day, the leading earners get to flaunt their 'A side' priveleges and AJ is no different in this regard, neither better or worse.

TLDR? No, not really. He's playing it savvy.

 

I still don´t get the argument that Joshua is being protected. Protected from whom?

 

Always a quality response from you sir

 

I think he just wants to give Usyk every opportunity to come to his senses and back out of the fight.
We all saw how feeble he looked against the plodding Chisora. At the end of the day Usyk has a family to think about and no one wants to see him get dismantled by a young destroyer like Anthony Joshua.

 

While I do agree that A.J by 99% will win fight vs Usyk, and because you are cash cows fans, I will not address my comments to A.J fans and Usyk's haters.

I will post some comments addressed only to really thinking ppl who does not have washed up brains.

Best boxer by criteria skills/ shape in pro ring A.J ever had was Andy Ruiz Jr. This is reality and he does not looks as destroyer with Ruiz Jr or Parker. The Parker fight was shame to professional boxing, when ref interacted in moments when fight was not comfortable for A.J.
Btw, I suspect that Usyk might hit harder than Parker.