Is the backlash against Joshua fueling the "keep your 'O' at all costs" disease of boxing?

Good question, but yeah i agree that the fans are "poisoning the water supply " so to speak. These guys can't win either way really. They lose for daring to be great or even just a good old fashion upset and their lives and livelihoods are in flux. They play it safe to "stay winners" and we question their resume. Used to be guys got in the ring and threw punches at each other and the result was what it was. You win hats off champ, you lose get back in the gym and come back better.

 

agreed. the fighters and fans are too hung up on the big "0" these days. example- sugar ray robinson and lamotta fought each other MANY times while at their best. both lost to each other and still, their legacies are not tarnished.
today? "OMG! this fighter lost! he is washed up!"

 

Boxing fans really aren't as smart as they used to be even with social media ( I don't know how that's possible ? ...lol ) but Wilder himself took an L so he's the one who actually took the first misstep and ina fight he only took bc he was told fury wasn't ready ( yes wilder fans that's your fighter ) .

In a fight LIKE this the champion SCORED the 1st knockdown ( pararell to Tyson/ Douglas) and like Tyson wasnt prepared to fight back ,will he be next time? You bet he will be and it will most likely end up like Tyson /Douglas 2 had it taken place.

M.Tyson was not conditioned for a 6'4 jabber ,Joshua WAS conditioned ENOUGH for a 6'1 heavy footed guy.....DONT YOU GUYS UNDERSTAND THIS ? smh.

The rematch should look a lot of the same with the exception AJ being prepared to fire back as long as it takes to finish off Ruiz.

Major upset and one I cant see happening again not if AJ actually comes to destroy the destroyer.

 

Well this fight wasn't considered a challenge and Joshua hasn't fought wilder or fury anyway

 

I think the real backlash on Joshua isn't that he lost. More so how he lost and the body type of the guy he lost to

There are 2 other polarizing guys at the weight and a lot of fan boys

This reaction is to be expected

 

The backclash is over the fraudulent marketing and over paying of AJ, everyone knew he had serious flaws which were brutally exposed on Saturday night. I think he was unfairly overpaid compared to Wilder

 

I hope it ends marinating fights and guys just get in the ring instead of dragging it out

 

You are not overpaying if the business makes money.

What would you rather have AJ gets paid less so the promoter takes more?

AJ gets paid what is relative to how much money the show makes. I don't understand why fans would want the fighter to earn less.

 

I think it is a problem, yes. As long as you're undefeated you're a God. But if you dare to lose one you morph very quickly into a bum. Ok, I'm exaggerating, but not that much As long as you keep winning you have a great this, that and the other. But if you lose one you have been "exposed" (the most annoying and overused word in boxing). The importance of keeping that 0 behind your name is an obsession that exists in no other sport. Even in MMA it doesn't exist to that same degree. And in, say, tennis, if Federer loses a match nobody will say that he's been "exposed." He will just win next week's event beating the guy he lost to last week.

 

Even today, with "So-called knowledgeable fans" on this board, posters STILL act like a loss is the end of the world, or it means one was exposed. Boxing fans are freakin fickle as hell...

 

Its not that he lost its how he lost. Undefeated means jack sh@t to me tbh. That just tells me you never challenged yourself and played it safe.

 

While I agree people are way too hung up on the 0, I feel this type of loss was going to get backlash regardless. A loss on the way up while a fighter is still learning and developing is reasonable, and taking a risk against the elite of the division and coming up short should be acceptable, but losing badly in a fight most billed as a walk over and blowing up mega fights with the elite of the division in the process deserves some backlash.