Joshua's continous development is the key to his success.

I respectfully disagree, and I understand where you are coming from, but Joshua always turns up in shape which hardly any other heavy does. He looks the part, trains the part, has a great arsenal, good technique on all his punches.

He lacks some creativity like with Ali and Lennox, but he is definitely above the robotic Klitchko albeit being somewhat robotic himself. Klitchko has a nailed down style that he has honed over many years. He is bad at adapting.

Joshua has adapter to many styles and ranges of opponent and been successful in each one. That commands respect today, even though others before him like Lennox did it too.

AJ is punch perfect, solid, combinations perfect execution.

 

You can disagree, but he has been shaky in fights vs old men. Joshua was never fat, rather he was too muscle bound which limited his punch out put in the later rounds. He needs to make sure he doesn't get up to 255.

A style and controlling the pace of a fight can be a strength. Joshua is lacking here.

I will say Joshua's heart is pretty good, but the flaws I'm talking about will become more visible when he fights talented guys in their prime. I do not think he'll be a good over 35 year old type of fighter like Lewis or Klitschko were, as he relies heavily on his youth and being a top athlete. Once that drops off you need good technique.

 

When Klitschko fought like Joshua without clinching he got battered by Purrity, Sanders and Brewster.

If Joshua would rely more on clinching and dirty tactics he could easily fight on a high level until his late 30s.

 

I understand, Hollyfield a good example who can fight later on. But Joshua was gifted with power that will last a long time. He has decent technique, combinations and counter-punches to deal with any threat, and his sheer power is always going to give him the edge.

Wilder and Fury have talents that will fade quickly which is speed. While Joshua will still continue longer, because he has been in the harder fights and learned much much much more.

And let's be honest, have you seen Wilder and Fury throw punches? Compared to AJ? World of difference.

Maybe he won't be another Lennox or Hollyfield, but it's TOO early to say right now. He is definitely on track to be hall of fame.

 

There are many things he could do, but I saw him clinching wisely with Povetkin, not in poor taste like Dillian or Klitchko sometimes do. He does it tactfully.

Past round 4 he was finding his Rythm and clinching Potemkin with his lead arm to set up punches and counters, and to sense Povetkins loopy range and move out when needed.

 

I can see him honing the skills he has, but not really learning anything new at this point. AJ can ensure he has sound footwork but he won't become Fred Estaire or MC Hammer in the ring.

Getting dropped hard was the experience I wanted to see him get & Wlad gave it. He rose & dropped him. Wilder nor Fury has been hit that hard from the fights I've seen of them.

Since I can't name a single HW who was 1. Powerful, 2. Smart 3. Fast 4. Durable & had both A rated Defense & Offense... I don't expect to see it in in AJ.

 

But he is still inexperienced and needs to learn a couple of things, he looked very green in the first 3 rounds against Povetkin.

Povetkin didn't look good in his last 3 fights and he certainly wasn't better against Joshua but he made him look good and that shouldn't be the case.

Joshua has a higher ceiling than Wlad who was in my opinion not a great fighter, Joshua could be a great fighter one day.

 

I gave Povetkin round 5 and he was gassing, swinging in round 6. Yes Joshua moved out of range, but when the other guy is tried, that becomes easier. He never established a jab to prevent Povetkin from going in.

I still think Joshua bent rules by spitting out his mouth piece and getting a much needed rest vs Wlad on shaky legs. Wlad's mistake was not going for the finish.

 

I agree with your sentiments, but Povetkin is a strong puncher, he might be old but he didn't fight like an old man on Saturday - he brought an amazing game.

I was in awe of Povetkins combinations landing consistently. So much venom and speed, and technique. You can tell he practised them day in day out with taller fighters to become that adept. He was landing at will until Joshua figured out his rythm.

And Joshua soaked them up well! Gotta respect that, I mean Price took two shots and was down, AJ took many. And he landed a great many on Povetkin too and got him out of there in good fashion. Pov has great experience and pedigree.

Joshua only 22 fights, still room to learn and fine tune. He put's the work in - question is... how is he going to learn? You need fresh new stimuli to learn ... competition is scarce... maybe new trainer?

I agree he does need to learn more, he was looking the opposite of his usual dominant self in the first three rounds, but that is true for any competition in life, you're dominant till you meet a highly skilled opponent, then it gets even.

 

I think you might be underrating Povetkin a bit, Povetkin showed up very well. He did better than most thought, but he was always going to lose because AJ is an excellent finisher with guys that want to trade.

Povetkin was doing great first few rounds he was landing, clean, flush shots that would drop most fighters easily, he didn't land as cleanly and consistently like that against Klitchko... we should go back and see how many punches POV landed flush on AJ head.

And AJ soaked it all up like a champ.

As soon as AJ landed his big combinations it was over quick. If they rematch again it will be same result.

AJ kept his guard up, chin down and didn't leave himself unnecessarily exposed like many heavies do today (cough price) to get caught on the chin with a strong hook from a hooker (boxing not prostitution).

With some fighters, age is just a number... an Povetkin proved that he was still fast, still agile, still accurate. He landed beautifully... but AJ took it well.


Like AJ said, POV is weak to the body, and AJ is strong downstairs and upstairs.

Wilder can land a sneaky punch not combinations like Povetkin, similar to what klitchko landed on joshua. So that will be an interesting test.

 

Very good, I can agree with this. The thing is most younger champions tend to improve a but with the amount of title defenses Joshua already has, and his age, he's not a young champion. He's a champion in his prime.

A change of trainers would be risky. It could help or hurt, and with him being on top I don't see it unless he gets defeated.

 

Fair enough - I concede AJ is a prime champion, I guess a string of defeats would warrant a new trainer.

Hey let's see how he does in the next two fights

 

AJ never inspires confidence. You always get the impression he is very close to defeat in his subsequent fights and has vulnerabilities.

 

Which makes for very exciting viewing.

 

Isn't Hughie the same guy who was running like a rabbit all night long against Parker and threw about 2 or 3 power punches in 12 rounds? He made Morrad Hakkar from Hopkins fight look like an ultimate warrior in comparison.