Joshua Vs Dubois

Dubois has certainly improved and would relish the chance to fight Joshua,Joshua is apparently back in his groove also after the Wallin and Ngannou victories and this would certainly be an interesting match up. Dubois and Joshua have sparred plenty of rounds together so certainly know there way about the ring together and how things went .

 

I don’t know if they will listen but I would prefer the Parker fight for him at this stage which will aid his development and I think he will win it. AJ fight he will have zero margin for error especially where AJ is right now. Dubois is not someone who can fight with zero margin for errors. If he was shipping those right hands from AJ we know what would happen and AJ is not a stationary target like Hrgovic.

 

92% of this forum picked Joshua. Is this what being overrated is?

 

An upset happening doesn't mean that a fighter is over rated…..

Was Lennox Lewis over rated because he got flattened by McCall or Rahman?

 

Do you think Joshua is overrated?

 

Right now, certainly not.

Over the course of his career - yes, but not in a terrible way, at least by knowledgeable fans.

He was a world champ who defended his belt against decent opposition. I always thought he’d lose to Fury and Wilder prime for prime, many people had him as the best of the three - so in that regard I’d say he was overrated - but not in any large way… unfortunately none of them ever got it on.

The Ngannou win definitely shouldn’t have been used as a measuring stick for where he was at, but you can blame Fury for not training a minute for Ngannou and the resulting performance for that…. I guess?

Prior to the DuBois fight I don’t really think I’d say he was overrated though, with the knowledge we had at that point - DuBois really showed out and surpassed expectations, and AJ REALLY **** the bed.

 

Yes. Hard to argue any other way.

 

It is quite literally the definition of being overrated. He didn't just get clipped and wiped out, he got dominated. He didn't win a round

 

Lewis led on all 3 cards going into the 5th round against Rahman.

Joshua got bullied from the word go against Dubois and dropped 4 times in 5 rounds.

Not much similarity there.

 

Good point - I guess my point is, it was quite clear that was very far away from the best AJ, similar to Spence vs Bud.

 

So every fighter that loses a fight they're expected to win is overrated?

 

The results show how easy it is to fool the boxing public with a carefully manufactured record.

 

His record was only “manufactured” his last couple of fights prior to DuBois. He showed improvement in his rematch with Usyk, and I think more knowledgeable fans were basing their rating of him off that, not beating Helenius or Ngannou….

No one was saying he was the best heavyweight in the division at this point, he was just commonly expected to beat DuBois, and most people got that part wrong for whatever reason.. (and there are several possible causes for that result, AJ simply being “overrated” after years of fighting at the top level probably being the least likely explanation)

It’s hard to chalk that up to AJ being overrated when AJ looked worse than he has his entire career and DuBois looked his best.

AJ isn’t an unproven prospect, he’s a guy who’s held a title and defended it, lost, and avenged losses or tried to……

He didn’t show up vs DuBois, and DuBois is possibly the worst possible matchup for him to be lackadaisical in… Whether it was a bad night, or a sign that AJ is going downhill fast, neither means he is overrated in my mind….. He lost in an upset, so what, nobody thought he was unbeatable…

It’s odd how often I find myself defending fighters I genuinely dislike on this forum. Many of you know, AJ is far from my favorite heavyweight…

 

Go back and look at the threads. I don't know who you are but you probably took part in them as well. Everyone said AJ was "back" and "better than ever". There were only a few voices of dissent claiming he was the same flawed fighter. People went ape s*** over the stoppage of Otto Wallin. The consensus DKSAB voice of the forum was that AJ was a CLEAR #2 in the division and that he may in fact beat an aging Usyk in a 3rd bout. Don't try to rewrite history.

Everyone got the Joshua-Dubois fight wrong PRECISELY because one of the fighters in that fight was, and always has been, massively overrated. Dubois isn't suddnely "the worst possible matchup" for Joshua. He's a strong ABC fighter who has been stopped by jabs twice.

I know Joshua fans want him to be "back and better than ever" before the fight and then also "post prime, going downhill fast" if he loses, or as you've brilliantly put it "similar to a post car crash Spence". It's not reality.

 

Yeah, I’m pretty sure I expected AJ to beat DuBois easily - and I’ve never thought much of AJ compared to most people - I just severely underrated DuBois, and again, I do think AJ really **** the bed. I also did not think AJ was better after the Usyk fights, I just thought he was better than DuBois.

While I had him winning, I don’t recall thinking DuBois winning was outlandish or anything - but it’ll be interesting to go back and see what I said honestly.

I’ve never thought AJ was number 2, he’s been behind Fury and Wilder at least, then Usyk and Fury later.

With all that said - this thread isn’t about my particular opinion but about the general opinions of AJ - and honestly you’ve stated your case well and I see your point. I had forgotten about much of what’s been said, but I’m remembering it now. The sensationalism following the Wallin and Ngannou bouts in particular - who again - were only rated well based on Fury underperforming - Fury who CLEARLY prepares and performs to the level of his competition… (something else I’ve stood by)

So yeah, I recall much of what you’re saying, so I get the point now… but I’m no AJ fan, and have never rated him as highly as you’re saying.

I said he was the worst possible matchup for a lackadaisical AJ, not the worst possible match up for AJ*.. a guy who comes firing on all cylinders with power is the worst type of person to be in a fight against when your head is in the clouds…..


Tl;Dr - you’re right, he’s been overrated by many… but as I said in my last response - not by knowledgeable fans….