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

No. It has more to do with the fact that he was, so early in his career, held out as some sort of gold standard.

He then got terribly exposed and beat up and down by a fat guy, who just happened to be a much much better fighter.

 

Yep there's far too much significance on the 0. Matchroom are partly responsible for this notion. It's fairly accepted that someone from Matchroom tweets from Michael Buffer's account sometimes. I can understand the logic of this, Matchroom understand that most sports fans (not necessarily boxing fans) associate Buffer's "let's get ready to rumble!!" as synonymous with boxing. He would be seen as an elder statesman voice of reason.

They then use his account ot tweet things like this... (picture of Joshua and Katie Taylor shortly after Wilder vs Fury)

"@MichaelBuffer Both with PERFECT RECORDS (having a draw on your record eliminates one from being PERFECT). #LetsGetReadyToRumble ®" (Link).

Comments like that help perpetuate the myth of the '0' and give it more importance and it's Matchroom's own fault. Their silly attempt to use Michael Buffer's profile to discredit Wilder/Fury looks rather silly now.

 

They've all lost now. Fury lost to Big John McD and Wilder lost to Fury.

The nature of the AJ loss was rather embarrassing but the crowning of this generations king is still there to be grabbed by all 3 of them.

 

I do not care for 0,s

Screams protected well managed fighters
You learn from losses

 

I dont think having a zero is good for the personality either. You can develop way too much arrogance in a fake resume, starting to believe in it,espceially young men.Perhaps Tyson was a case of this. Some men mature faster than others.

Another example is how Joe Calzaghes ex-wife described how he turned super arrogant and a cheat after he beat his first top opponent,kessler,,when 34.

 

At the end of the day a promoters job is to HYPE up their fighter as much as possible and a fighters job is to believe and act like they can beat anybody, This combination when combined with somebody who already has natural marketable attributes such as being a well spoken poster boy with and Adonis physique that all the young kids look up to and think is super cool and all the ladies love him = an extra level of hype and expectation. If AJ had taken the same route as most other fighters, wasn't promoted thy way he was after 20 fights he would still be fighting on under cards making peanuts.

Fighters are scared to lose their 0 because of exactly the kind of backlash AJ is getting now.

 

Boxing fans in 2019 be like

if you have an 0 your a protected hype job bum
If your lose your 0 you was just a hype job bum that wasn't protected and got exposed

Boxing fans are way too emotional and personal, Just enjoy the fights, some fights will be better than others, fighters can fight 10 times and it doesn't mean the same fighter will win every time. It takes balls to get in that ring especially in front of millions of people literally putting your life on the line. I am not even mad at a fighter if he quits, if you can't defend your self properly save your self for another day, one shot is all it takes to turn you into a cabbage.

 

Most people can empathize with AJ, and understand his journey, the negativity is more directed at his arrogant fans who spent the better part of the last two years talking down to anyone who dared suggest he could be beaten. AJ himself isn't a bad guy and I actually appreciate his sportsmanship and overall world view.

 

if joshua wins the rematch, we may see a turn in the 'protect you 0 at all costs'

he changed the HW division for a while. why not that.

 

Honestly I think the backlash is more of the realization that a Joshua/Wilder "somebody's 0 must go" superfight was spoiled. People that were fans (real fans) of a fighter with an 0 usually stay fans after they lose the 0.

 

Lol AJ was so bad that matchroom couldn't save him via corruption from the judges.

 

Mohd Ali had losses, Larry Holmes had losses, Tyson, Holyfield, Lewis had losses. Its not about losing, its the manner of defeat.

 

The zero has more impact depending on how much hype surrounds certain fighters compared to their opposition, as well as how long they continue to stay hypejobs before stepping up. SRR , Estrada, Chocolatito all have losses, but what they've accomplished before and after the loss makes losing the zero not look nearly as bad as say someone like Machado. Estrada lost to Choco way back, instead of keeping Choco's name in his mouth during interviews, he settled it in the ring.

Loma was another hypejob that now has a loss. His fans give him otherworldly praise that can be a bit much at times. He has a few weaknesses just like every other boxer. However, if Loma did an interview right now and said no one at 135 or under can beat me. I will 100% agree with that statement. He will embarrass most of them, because he has proven that he can.

Joshua on the other hand has several weaknesses that can be exploited. To me he's better than most, but not as good as advertised. Even before the Ruiz fight if he was to say no one in the heavyweight division can beat me, I wouldn't have agreed with that.

The promoters play a huge part in this, the way they handle things, the lies, the stalling. They keep us fans waiting and then it blows up in their face. Just like how Joshua vs Ruiz blew up in Hearns face. None of us know who's really at fault for him not getting in the ring with Wilder and Fury.

It's a real shame though, because reaching 30 years of age in boxing, spending years building the brand, talking about being the best and then it all comes crumbling down before ever coming face to face with your rivals in the ring. The promoters robbed us of seeing how it would go down. We wanted to see it first hand. Deontay just lost to Fury, do you see his fans abandoning him, is he getting trashed on the way Joshua is? No because most of us knew exactly

This is no knock on Ruiz BTW, because he didn't win just off the power, he severely outclassed him. Congrats to the dude. Lastly, UFC has already proven zero's aren't that bad, because of the way it's handled. Fights get made instead of hyped and marinade.

 

Nothing special about being undefeated. It's about the guys you beat.

A lot of people love to bring up Castillo when talking about Floyd and his record. OK, he might have gotten a gift that night, but aren't we forgetting something? They had an immediate rematch and Floyd clearly won. Something that people like to ignore. They are too fixated on the record.

Meanwhile in MMA, you have guys who tend to challenge themselves way more often and they take a ton of losses. Yet guys with 13 losses can fight their way back to the top. Because it's not about the losses, it's about who you beat.