Should AJ lose weight to improve his speed?

Regardless from origin, being older with longer mileage impacts boxers a lot.
From notable HW boxers I think Foreman had lesser impact on his abilities when he get older, while the same Holmes I think in 1988 and later definitely wasn't prime Holmes. A lot other boxers too were not like Foreman.

 

Agree with this, but going further I don't think Fury's feet in Wilder 2 were much faster than AJ's in Ruiz 2. Fury will always have better head movement & be more slippery though.

 

Joshua is fast enough. His hands are as fast as Fury's, his feet are not too slow either.
It's his boxing brain that'll be too slow. He won't be able to compute everything Fury does.

 

Maybe AJ will destroy Fury.
But at the moment, he's never destroyed a top quality fighter who isn't about 40 years old.

 

I lurked in tapology.
Vs Takam A.J weighted 254lbs and Takam 235.5lbs. Looks that Takam was 36 years 10 months old. A.J preformed vs him well.
Vs Povetkin A.J weighted 245.3lbs and Povetkin 222 lbs. Pov was 39 years old. A.J looked pretty watchable vs Povetkin.
Vs Pulev A.J weighted 240 lbs and Pulev 239 lbs. Pulev was 39 years 7 months old. A.J had stopped Pulev.
Vs Wlad he was 250 lbs vs 240.3lbs 41 y.o Wlad and looked not bad.
Vs Parker he was 242 lbs vs 236.5 lbs Parker. Didn't looked impressive.
Ruiz fight we do know.

I think for Fury then maybe preferable is to weight 254 lbs or a bit more?

 

He's never destroyed any top quality boxer in his career. I wouldn't say he destroyed Wladimir Klitschko, and nobody else he beat is top quality. Povetkin is a very good contender, but he's not top quality, and he didn't destroy him.

 

Neither has Fury. And don't say Wilder because even Dillian Whyte has a better resume

 

A.J resume is a bit better than Whyte resume: he had beated 39 y.o aging Povetkin while Whyte had beated 41 years 6 months old Povetkin.
If he will be heavier, like 254 lbs or better more, I think he might have more chances to KO Fury.

 

Lol.... Wlad was the "man of the division" , hadn't been defeated for the best part of a decade and was only 12 months removed from one of his career best performances against an undefeated Pulev.

He couldn't "pull the trigger" because Fury took the right hand away from him. He had no problems pulling it a year or so later when he put AJ on his arse

 

AJ should stay as he is, he is not a mover like Fury so don't try to be , he has probably bulked up as he saw how Fury bossed Wilder around with his extra weight....this wount work with AJ.
AJ is a better boxer than Wilder (not sure if he's a natural fighter though) & also better balance & body/leg strength, Fury will not be able to push/boss/wrestle AJ at all.
We can go on forever about skills /muscle /power etc but i think the things that matter with these two guys are:
Fury : Lack of Activity, Gym work is not the same not if your in with 2 guys at a time even.
Metal Pressure, Fury looks good in Vids & pressers but inside this long wait will be making harder & harder to keep the intense focus that his style needs .
Reflexes, Furys in fight/Flights reflex may be diminishing slightly, I dont think they were in the Wilder 2 fight ,he just didn't need them to deal with Wilder .
Joshua:
His self beleif to me seems to be in his corner & not so much in his head about himself, he seems to really need that pat on the head to keep it going. I think Vlad knew this & all the way up to the fight Vlad was employing the tactic of old guy to be respected & we'll see how the young 'un does etc & you could see Joshua was still a bit in awe of Vlad as when he was his sparring partner. I feel Joshua is too manafactured as a fighter, in reality a nice guy but lacks the " I'm hit once so he's getting 5 to 1 back" its not there .
Then Fury seems to have an endless stamina tank whereas Joshua does puff a bit, I dont think losing a few pounds will help him really.

My take is Joshua has to take Fury by the scruff of the neck get stuck in dont let Fury at long range & work them ribs & liver. Don't worry if you miss punchs mid/long range , who cares what it looks like, get him on those ropes & maul the ****er...Go down fighting & get up fighting!!!