On paper it's competitive, unproven contender with a title against a former title holder who can beat a gatekeeper like Arreola but is basically a fringe contender now. But in reality I don't think Stiverne has anything put a punchers chance, he'll need Joshua to make a fatal mistake to capitalise with a well timed counter. Joshua is a big man like Austin and Wilder who both made Stiverne look bad. Stiverne with his lack of movement is going to struggle to close the range to land his shots.
Joshua a smart fighter so he will win . I trust him to fight the fight stiverne doesnt want to. AJ just need to box jab all night dont look for ko. Push stivern off wen gets close and or uppercuts . Joshua has every advantage , only way he looses if he slugs it out with stivern cuz he could get caught. Also joshuas stamina still suspect to me . Just cuz he hasnt been takin distance
I'm OK with this fight, I see AJ beating up Stiverne & probably stopping him late. Stiverne can definitely bang but AJ proved in his last fight that his footwork is pretty decent with the way he got in and out without Breazeale landing many counters. I don't think Stiverne has the speed to land many flush shots on AJ.
if Stiverne comes in with decent shape this fight could be mildly interesting :think AJ takes it imo, the test will be how well he takes it.
Missmatch. Stiverne lacks character and discipline to train. He comes in severely out of shape and spends the night imitating a punching bag because he doesn't have the stamina to throw more than a dozen punches a round. Joshua by Tko (acumulation of punches) I'm 10
This. Stiverne has the power and counter punching skills to make this interesting, but his age and lack of discipline has caught up with him. He also is very inactive. Fighting every 9-10 months won't cut it if you want to stay sharp.
Stiverne doesn't move, has no reach. He's literally a sitting duck for Joshua. The problem is, how on earth is he ranked top 15 by two major bodies by having beaten only a journeyman in 18 months? That's just messed up. He should've been out of the rankings long ago and his name would never be mentioned.
Stiverne is underdog, of course, but he has solid experience, punching power and excellent chin. So, I consider this possible match as 75/25 type. Stiverne will have punchers chance, but I am not sure that he will be capable to land cleanly...
Stiverne is a good test, we can see how much power Joshua has and how much power Joshua's chin can take. He should comprehensively outbox Bware however.
Northpaw, Joshua certainly has much power, and if he can take Stiverne's clean punches without damage - we (boxing fans) will have the heir of Lennox Lewis very soon.
My guess is that it will be a pretty one-sided fight.I wouldnt call it a mismatch but Joshua will probably win almost every round in their encounter.Stiverne is far too inactive inside the ring,too lethargic at times,lacks speed and determination to end a fight by all means.He for sure can take a good punch and throw a good one.A ko victory for Stiverne is possible but not very likely. Joshua by wide point decision or even late tko . All in all Stiverne is tailor made for the more skilled and far faster Brit IMO.