Is Anthony Joshua playing it safe?

I am an AJ detractor and rip that big stiff idiot at any opporutntiy

But no he's not playing it safe.

Eddie & AJ have been have night terrors ever since Ruiz starched him. Usyk is a big threat despite being a literal midget compared to AJ. Eddie wishes they didn't have to fight him.

 

You fight where the money is, there is no money fighting in the Ukraine.

AJ is the champion and the box office star, why would he need to travel abroad? The A side usually fights at home, MOST opt for that option.

Both fighters are in camp, both have posted videos of such. If team Usyk and the WBO are not complaining then why are you? They are obviously happy with whatever is happening behind the scenes.

 

The Bodybuilder brand creation marquee fight and elite level matchmaking success was fight vs Molina.
Yeah, exactly and ofc there will fall PR generated excuses and talks about boxing orgs and how cool A.J is.

Molina before fight vs A.J had lost fights via stoppage and there nothing is wrong unless this was not this:
Molina had lasted in the ring vs Jordan ( lads, who he is? ) 1 minute 45 seconds. 2007 th.
Molina had lasted in the ring vs Arreola 2 minutes and 30 seconds. 2012 th.
Molina had been battered by Wilder 8 rounds and 1 min 3 seconds in 9 th round until he get stopped. 2015 th.
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More interesting thing: he had really struggled vs Adamek 10 rounds until he had stopped Adamek. If boxer struggles at HW vs Adamek, this is huge alert.
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A.J gets fight vs Molina with such background and of course looks very impressive vs Molina. However Molina still had lasted vs him longer than vs Jordan and Arreola.
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Then eddie had " reanimated " more than year inactive, beltless Wlad who had looked very boring and lethargic vs Fury in his last fight.
So lethargic and boring that Fury get win in Germany on judges cards over huge name in Germany, rich businessman in 39 y.o Wlad.
Beautiful matchup and " reanimation ": 41 y.o, more than year inactive, beltless big name in boxing. Congratulations.
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After this looks that was Takam, boxer already had been stopped after 10 rounds beatup by Povetkin. Again beautiful matchamaking.
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Over the hill Povetkin too was good from point of view " surname ".
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Okey, last outing was 39 y.o Pulev. Beautiful.
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About Panda as late replacement and outcome everyone I hope does knows.
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Not really, no.

You don't get to be a unified champion by playing it safe to begin with, and you don't manage to stay one once you're there unless you manage to get all your alphabet organisations to protect you from tough mandatories.

Even if you somehow get an easy path to a title and manage to game the alphabets to feed you derisory mandatories and protect you from dangerous contenders though - you don't manage to build EASILY the best resume in the division by playing it safe, you get that by taking on riskier fights and winning them...
This is the difference between Joshua and Wilder - their respective resumes tell the real tale of who's proven and who isn't, regardless of how long they've held a belt or two.

Usyk is still somewhat an unknown quantity at heavyweight - his technical skill and ring IQ is not in dispute, he's A1 and no mistake in those areas... However, whether his age and additional weight will have worked against him is still an open question, one which his performance against Chisora did little to answer emphatically (yes he won, but in less impressive fashion than might perhaps be expected of a former undisputed CW champ against a slow and ageing journeyman).

But is taking the Usyk fight a sign of "cruising" from AJ?
Hardly, it's a mandatory he was ordered to fight when it became clear that a unification fight to become undisputed was off the table.

There's a lot you can criticize Joshua for, but I don't think playing it safe is really one of them.

 

Indeed... Regardless of the fact Usyk is a mandatory, he's still got the potential to be a very difficult fight - it's hard to play it safe where mandatories are concerned without somehow managing to make sure you only get pathetic mandatories... But even if you somehow do, your resume will tell the tale.

 

Usyk could beat him. Gas him out and take him out down the stretch.

Joshua isn't like Chisora in terms of workrate and aggression. If AJ fought like Chisora he'd be dead tired after 6.

This fight is a big risk for Joshua. He deserves big credit for taking it because Usyk will absorb his legacy if he wins.

 

I can imagine.
Most likely he can't loss on cards vs someone from Ukraine, so Usyk needs to KO A.J.
If A.J will be in trouble, ref will assist him, if Usyk: british stoppage, we all world do know what this means.

While yeah, the same Haye for sure hit harder than Usyk or Bellew, still he did not had managed to beat supposedly not that hard hitting Bellew.
Yeah, Bellew " pillow fist " cos he won Masternak via decision ( like KO Doctor too ) and ppl forget that he had stopped Makabu, current WBC champ at CW.
If to compare, Haye was boxer who had stopped Chisora faster than bunch with his elite level opponents.

 

Why does Joshua need another 3 months before the fight? Is that to see if more punters can be sold tickets or is he running scared?

 

maybe just different sort of only natural juice?
We all had saw how he looked vs Ruiz Jr when had been tested in US.

 

The opposite of playing it safe. Usyk is the type of fight AJ does not want, not much to gain and a hell of a lot to lose.

 

Because he trained for Fury for several months but because that fighr fell through he has to train for Usyk for several month because they pose different problems. Remember when Aj took on Takam and Ruiz on short notice and they ended up being difficult fights ? Yeah. because Joshua isn't a good adaptable fighter.

 

Then arguably noone in the HW division is.

Even if you don't like him (and I don't) he's got the best resume by far at HW right now - H2H I personally think Fury beats him, but no-one else does (Usyk probably causes the most problems but I don't see him winning).

This isn't a criticism of you, I'm fine with agreeing that there's no elite fighters at HW right now, but I also have to admit that as much as I don't like him Joshua on resume and Fury on the eye are the only two that get anywhere near it.

 

Actually A.J likes me and I'm not so sure who might beat him or who will not beat him. He for me looks nice guy.
His career does have looks that enough beautiful matchmaking star hours with a glance.
Also I do not think that Usyk might get decision vs A.J.
Ref most likely too will be an opponent.

It is very sad but pro boxing is a business.
There is reason why A.J even had beated up boxer previously brutally beated up by Pov and then old Pov.
I really can't imagine how good boxer he now looked for british fans if he did not had chinny Molina and after this ring rusty, beltless and sorry 41 years old Wlad in the ring, where A.J looked like walking pharmacy factory, 250 lbs vs 240 lbs.
We all had saw how fights A.J when he is tested in US. Vs fat panda .

 

i'm a bit disappointed that this isn't happening in mid-August.
After Hearn putting back the ill-fated AJ-Fury several times it got to August,I think that all collapsed over a month ago (end of May?) but AJ-Usyk won't happen until September 25th?
It's not Joshua's fault. The schedule is not good though. Joshua is not going to fight twice in 2021 now and that can't be blamed on Fury (although it inevitably will be).
I don't really understand it. Seems a bit unnecessary to delay this so long.