So we know the story on AJ if he loses...

LooooL!!!

 

Tyson Fury beat a dominant, active, reigning long-time champion who hadn't lost in over 11 years. Went to his backyard and beat him clearly.

Joshua is fighting a former champion, a dethroned champion coming off a loss and the longest lay-off of his career.

I can't explain it any clearer than that.

(Also, Wladimir's failure to throw punches against Fury was due to Fury's skill at staying a step ahead with brilliant footwork. Wladimir couldn't get set to throw punches entirely because of what Fury was doing.)

 

I agree. Joshua's gained massive credibility even if he loses here. I believe he has the right mindset to come back from a loss stronger too.

I just hope the media and all the fans who build him up don't turn on him too harshly if he loses.

 

Good point. He didn't have to make this fight despite it being very lucrative he could do what Wilder does and talk a lot but not fight anyone with a hope in hell and still make millions per fight. But it's clear him and his team are ambitious and those before saying he was never going to fight Wlad and it was all some con to help build his profile have been totally discredited. He wants to be great, questions is does he have the skill to match the desire.

 

I'm not sure you can say that right now. Too many question marks around Wlad's form at the moment.

Joshua will have to go on and dominate the division against the likes of Wilder, Parker etc to strengthen his case that he didn't just dispose of a shot, ring rusty Wlad. And if Wlad goes on and notches a few more impressive wins that wouldn't hurt either.

 

Unfortunately I fear that's exactly what'll happen, which is why I hope the loser doesn't get too badly beaten, exposed or whathaveyou. Tabloids and British fans can be absolutely ruthless, especially to a guy they've hyped up beyond the stars. Joshua seems like a nice enough kid that I wouldn't want his mentality destroyed by that pack of wolves.

 

I don't know. Joshua seems fairly grounded and objective about his own abilities to me. Course, confidence is key to any top fighter's performance, but I don't think a loss would affect him as badly as, say, a loss would affect Wilder.

 

I wouldn't consider Wlad to be Fury's leftovers. Yeah, Fury won the fight but he broke down like jell-o for the rematch and I think that fear played a big part in that. It seems that the fight had a worse effect on Fury than it did Wlad. Wlad is fighting and Fury is rehabilitating. lol

 

fury won a pathetic fight against a wlad who looked **** the previous outing. if wlad beats joshua, it lends weight to fury's win. if he destroys joshua, it will really be on fury to step back up and prove it wasn't a fluke. the rest of fury's career has been **** to this point.