Lennox Lewis Schooling Dave Coldwell

All you need to do is give Joshua as long as you gave Wilder after becoming a champion, and judge him by the same standards. Then you won't be angry or disappointed.

'Bloody ridiculous' is being a champion and fighting 5 voluntaries in a row against the likes of Washington and Szpilka.

Unifying against unbeaten champ Joseph Parker and then taking care of your mandatory Alexander Povetkin is a bit less ridiculous. But c'mon, you know this.

I'll be amazed if Joshua doesn't fight Wilder or Fury in 2019. Just try to be a bit patient.

 

I actually agree with you!

Same people saying Joshua doesn't have to face anybody yet are the same people saying Gervonta Davis had to fight Lomachenko.

 

I get your point but I'm sick of this 'well look what wilder did' excuse.

It's not about what they did before it's about where they are now.

We want the fight and I find it ridiculous when fans make excuses for the fights not happening. (Not saying you do)

 

I and many others judged Wilder harshly for those poor defenses. And even still til this day he is unceremoniously criticized for it.

I don't blame him for fighting Parker, but there is no excuse for fighting a 40 year old Povetkin when he had the opportunity to make the unification fight happen with Wilder.

 

I've always thought there are two sorts of ex-fighters. One sort are great commentators about the sport (generally, I don't mean specifically working for telly). The second sort is a smaller group of people who may well have been great fighters with unique skills, but they are almost so unique and contrarian - so used to flowing against the tide... - that the way they see things doesn't transpose very well when they talk about Boxing or others involved in the sport.

I think people like Lennox and, just by way of example, Naseem Hamed fall into the second category.

 

The Wilder fight was never going to happen at the time given how stupid Wilder's team behaved regarding negotiations. Complete and utter amateur hour.

 

Lol spot on.

How an earth he gets the work is beyond me. Lennox is perhaps the most awkward and uncomfortable looking analyst in front of the camera I have ever seen.

 

I don't really understand everyone having to take such strong sides on the whole thing. Isn't it obvious it's quite a complex splurge of lawyers, advisors, promoters, TV companies, fighters - all of whom have vested and opposing interests, all of whom move their positions many times in trying to get the deal that suits them best? At the moment we have arrived at "no deal is better than a bad deal" on both sides.

What's wrong with saying that most of the advisors around Wilder probably wanted to keep him away from Joshua at a 'discount' price and to hold the WBC belt hostage to make many millions more? What's wrong with saying that Matchroom probably want to keep Joshua away from Wilder if it means giving up a huge cut (effectively the ransom for the WBC)? What's wrong with saying Matchroom would be equally happy to steer Joshua to a couple more 90,000 Wembley sellouts against other Matchroom signed fighters before risking it for all the marbles? What's wrong with saying Wilder probably thinks he can chin Joshua, who is not as evasive as Fury? What's wrong with saying Joshua probably wants to chin Wilder, believing he is technically superior and has enough dig to do it?

I just don't understand why everyone needs to fangirl about it and take sides. It's obviously complex. Nobody wants to mug themselves off and give multiples of millions away.

 

Neither schooled the other, Big Lennox made valid points as did Penfold

 

Yes offering him 50 million and not accepting ridiculous flat fee contracts with no rematch clauses.

Show me a champion that ever accepted flat fee deal?

 

Oh I agree, we shouldn't be making excuses for fights not happening. It's just astounding seeing the double standards when it comes to Joshua, the latest being here from Big Lennox.

Everyone knows fights don't get made for a multitude of reasons. Unfortunately, we see it all the time. Quite often it goes on for years like with Lewis and Tyson/Bowe. Sometimes the fights happen late, sometimes not at all.

With Joshua people want to make out everything becomes incredibly simple. 'Make it happen', '50/50', 'be a champion' ... it's as if all the politics and complexities that have plagued boxing for years suddenly melt away when talking about AJ. At least they do for the guys who resent AJ.

The irony of course is that Joshua is doing everything we should want in every weight division. His last 4 fights read mandatory, unification, mandatory, unification. If this form keeps going we shouldn't be waiting too long for another unification. I see no reason why there won't be another unification in 2019, but then I don't have a deep-rooted dislike for the guy.

 

Its shouldnt be lost on anyone that Lennox is now working for a rival network.

Hes always had a few things to say about AJ, I fully believe that its AJ chasing this fight with Wilder.

If the roles were reversed and AJ was choosing a rematch with Fury vs Unifying the division against Wilder there would be up roar... but apparently its AJ and Hearns fault!

 

penfold hasnt a clue what hes talking about.

 

It can be complex and one sides fault in fairness. They're not necessarily mutually exclusive. As an outsider looking in I think Joshua wants it more than Wilder. I may be wrong. These things usually happen though. I completely agree a bit of patience would help. If we'd been told before he went pro that Joshua would have done what he's done by this stage I can't imagine anyone seriously complaining about his career.

 

Can't believe i'm saying this but i agree with Penfold on this one. Boxing politics is unfortunately very complex and saying "just make it happen" is a bit daft tbh, much as i'd like to see the top fighters fight each other all the time.

Right i'm off to punch myself very hard as punishment for agreeing with Penfold.