Is there really that much between Fury and Joshua?

It was 2 years from Bryant Jennings.

Also I think the use of "inactive" is a misnomer for famous gym rats like Klitschko and Mayweather. Especially one who was hungry to prove a point and win his belts back. He was in camp for Fury and then in camp for Joshua. But sure, he was inactive by textbook definition

 

Consider this:

Fury KNEW he could outbox then champion and p4p #2 Vladimir Klitschko (if you were actively following heavyweight boxing in 2015, you know how insane this sounds).

Fury KNEW he could outslug and stop Wilder by charging at him (again, if you were steeped in the heavyweight scene in 2020, this sounds completely insane).

I understand Fury is the villain of the moment as the Usyk fight seems off. Still, the above fights, and especially the path to victory within them, would be attempted by very, very few fighters. Joshua's career is an exercise in structured training and risk management. Fury's career is that of a bipolar spartan who hates and loves the life he was born into. Their levels of talent are not comparable. With Joshua's third loss and Fury adding Whyte after Wilder III, their resumes are no longer comparable either.

If Fury retired today I cannot see Joshua catching him in terms of legacy. I suspect we will not see a greater display of heavyweight greatness from either man than we saw of Fury in the second Wilder fight.

 

It wasn't 18 either. It was literally 17 and one day.

But in all seriousness, I understand what you were saying. Personally, I think both were great achievements. Fury completely bamboozled Klitschko for much of the fight. At the same time even an old Klitschko was seen as the defacto man of the division, and Joshua was advanced through his career very quickly.

The caveat, I tend to put on the Fury one, is that it was a bamboozling. In that it was such a unorthodox approach to the fight, people were desperate to see if he could repeat the performance.

We know what happened next. And it kind of takes a bit of the shine off Fury's masterstroke performance for me.

 

Fury is more skilled, but AJ has the better resume. He has an unbeaten Whyte and Parker, a KO victory over Klitschko and Povetkin (which honestly should've been his first loss, cause that garbage with Wlad was not boxing), and wins over guys like Breazeale, Takam and Pulev, who may not be the best names but didn't come to roll over either. Plus while he has lost to Usyk, at least he got in the ring with him, though I remain hopeful Fury will one day do the same.

But while Fury's resume is thin, I find his big wins were done in a more impressive fashion. His shutout over Klitschko might not have been as entertaining as AJ's war, but just the fact he was able to do it in the way he did was an incredible feat. As for his first win over Wilder, I gotta say, it's pretty crazy when you think about it. After watching the first fight nearly end with a huge knockdown, certainly the biggest of his career even to this day, you'd think he'd fight cautiously in the rematch, but he did the exact opposite. Watching those two back to back was nuts.

If the two ever fight, and I think they will since they came so close to it once already, I'd see it as an interesting matchup. I don't see it being even exactly, but AJ has a better chance than some people give him credit for, depending on what version shows up. I think passing on the December bout was the right call cause the guy needs a confidence booster, and the more confidence he has, the more likely it is we'll see that ideal version show up.

 

Both of them had massive changes in approach and style....

Since Fury joined Sugar Hill he has become better and is able to be an aggressor.... He is better for it...

Since Joshua's losses he lacks confidence and courage..... And many wondering if his heart is in it....

Current versions of the two Fury looks much better.......

 

personally I think Fury had a much better match up for a Wlad fight over AJ,
Aj is a very respectable counter puncher with great KO power and size but for a very cautious outside fighter like Wladimir I'd say the much longer reached unorthodox fighter like Fury is a much harder fight for a guy like Wlad to go up against compared to a more predictable fighter with similar reach like AJ.
As the saying goes styles make fights and I think a fighter like Fury might be the Foreman to Wlad's Frazier where AJ was probably closer to the kind of fighter Wlad was prepared to go up against.

 

Fury’s win was better. When AJ put him down early you could see he thought the fight was over. Gassed massively and was badly hurt in the middle rounds (Hard to be objective and not think Wlad would have got him out of there had he really put it on him)

He still won the fight though and has the deeper resume

 

not if you nearly get knocked out yourself

 

Fury is a cut above

 

AJ is a big stiff idiot

 

Glad to have you back miniq

 

No Fury hasn't shown anything to be put above AJ.

Top 10 opponents AJ has beaten:
1. Wlad
2. Povetkin
3. Whyte
4. Parker
5. Ruiz
6. Pulev

Top 10 opponents Fury has beaten
1. Wlad
2. Whyte
3. Wilder (the poorest boxer out of the listed names).