The best era in boxing. Apparently.....

What do you make of Charles Martin in the grand scheme of things?

 

You sure about that? By my count we have two, Joshua and Klitschko. For a decade before that we had two Klitschko and Klitschko. A decade before that we had two Lewis and Bowe. There have always been big guys that weren't worth much. Tyson Fury is probably only equivalent to Primo Carnera, Ernie Terrell, Buddy Baer, Abe Simon, Lance Whitaker, Joe Bugner, Michael Grant, etc. Joseph Parker and Wilder haven't yet proved themselves to be superlative. Luis Ortiz is old and probably on his way out.

 

I think you underrate Tyson Fury. Sure Joshua probably KO's him in the first half of the fight, but there has never been a 6'6 250 pound guy with his skill and explosive well put together powerful combinations.
Fury does have skill, moves better than any super heavyweight before him, and he is far bigger than all the heavyweights you just mentioned.

 

You can't seriously assess an era while it's on-going. Eras are understood in terms of the their standing in comparison to others when they have passed. Certainly, the raw ingredients are there for some good match-ups and there is decent depth. But considering the latest era started just over a week ago, I think it's best we give it a little more time to evolve.

But if Joshua goes on to dominate for the next ten years as some seem to think, how can his era be a great one? You need good, close competition to characterise great eras, not a single dominant force. So what is it to be Joshua fans? You can't have it both ways, I'm afraid...

 

I think if it was still undefeated (pre Joshua) Breazeale then yes he would have been arguably Wilders best win. I think Breazeale has now had 3 tough hard punishing fights in a row and im not sure he will do many more of those before they catch up with him.
I think Martin when an undefeated HW champ, who has a big KO ratio would have possibly been thought of as Wilders biggest win if that fight had of happened.

 

Eddie Richardson 6'6, Jose Ribalta 6'5", Tony Tucker 6'5", Tyrell Biggs 6'5", Lou Savarese 6'5",

 

Fury would be a good addition indeed if he ever makes it back to the ring in decent shape.

But it's still not the best HW era ever, there is Joshua and then?

Wlad close to retirement
Ortiz very old
Tyson Fury with mental issues, will he ever fight again?

Povetkin old
Wilder clearly flawed
Parker a level below Joshua

There's no one of the class of Lennox Lewis or prime Klitschko to compete with Joshua at the moment. He needs a worthy rival for this to go down as a great HW era.

 

All smaller than Tyson Fury, never archived as much as Fury, and none of them had the skills, and speed of Fury.

 

Fury is warm dog **** like Wilder. His technique is just awful. He got lucky that Wlad got constipated and forgot how to box when they fought. Riddick Bowe, Lennox Lewis, and Vitali Klitschko would put him in a graveyard.

 

Look Joshua is great, better than anyone is giving him credit for until he beats more guys, but Wilder is underrated, Fury is coming back. The other fighters I mentioned are good, even if they are not at their peak.

Joshua Klitschko would be another huge fight.
Joshua Haye would be huge after Haye beats anyone.
Joshua Povetkin would be another gold medalist vs gold medalist fight.
Joshua Fury would be bigger than Klitschko
Joshua Wilder would be huge
Joshua Parker would be huge
There are big fights out there for him.

 

Tony Tucker has achieved as much as Fury has at this point. He beat Buster Douglas and held a heavyweight title, which is as good as Fury's victory over Chisora, and he beat Oliver McCall which is as good as Fury's fight with that shell of Klitschko that turned up. If Fury goes on to do anything else of note, then he'll have a better career than Tony Tucker had. Tucker also managed to go 12 with prime Tyson and Lewis, and that's no small feat. Fury probably needs to last 12 rounds with Joshua to compare.

 

Tony Tucker was never unified heavyweight champion, nor the size or skill.

 

Tony Tucker was in 4 title fights. Tyson Fury was only in 1. Neither man had a successful defense of their belts.

 

Theres many fighters here in this era that make it intesresting..

1. Tyson fury No ones ever had a Tyson fury in their era......

why is he important ?...well hes 6'9 250 and can really box,he also attacks the media and goes way out left filed with some things he does...and he beat Wlad!Hes the ultimate villain even though hes not the smartest at times which makes him ...??????

2. Shannon Briggs ...why is he important? ...well hes not that important but this guy got water poured over his head in a bar by wlad and in retaliation he knocked wlad into the water by motor boat stalking him on his vacation spot. Hes also STILL around and CAN ffight too and will be a champion soon looking more diesled than in the 90's ....intesesting...No?the only one crazier is probably fury,but even he doesnt stalk other fighters even at their gym.......

3. Parker/Izu ... Why are they important? the Barry Tag team determined to rule boxing,both can fight and punch,one is better skilled (IZU) the other more durable,they are usually in exciting fights and that Izu vs Breazeale showed you why this is a good era just starting to get good. Both are still early in developement lets not forget you are critisizing alot of guys not even in 25 fights yet.

4. Ortiz. Why is he important ?a big southpaw undefeated and not an easy fight really for anyone ( except maybe Joshua) He is sharp and can box/punch,he fights to the level of opposition usually and is fun to watch despite his age you wont find a bigger more dangerous southpaw than him in any era.Hes the most experienced outside wlad klitchko.

5. D. Breazeale ...why is he important? He stands 6'7 250 plus and is hard as hell to get out of there in a fight.Hes there to win and is very heavy handed and can take a punch .why wouldnnt you want to watch him?Have you really seen some of his fights? both Izu annd the mansour fights had alot going on in them .As well as Joshua who punished him for several rnds...it looked like he was hit by a bat.He may very well be in line for Wilder as well...what about that hotwel brawl?is that boring? Nope.

6. D.Whyte. why is he important ? well hes Joshuas biggest arch rival bc theres true bad blood and stemming from the amatuers.Hes also improving and comes to fight and will fight anyone.hes a true dark horse here bc he fights differently in fights,when he boxes hes very hard to predict and we all know he can trade and brawl..only Joshua has derailed him convincnly nearly sending his body out off the rinfg with the ropes stretching keeping him in the ring. hes also a big trash talker and likes to play mind games..Boring. Nope hes had a few almost scuffles outside the ring with other fighters.

7. Wilder. .....Whys he important? At 6'7 he is fast and many consider him the hardest puncher and he still is undefeated( still hasnt fought anyone) and the world is waiting for him to either knockout Joshua or get knocked out when he steps up against a top 5 guy. he brings personality and holds what many consider the important belt. Really hes just anmother giant in this era that will either get knocked out or get a knock out should he fight anyone on this list i mentioned...

why wouldn't you want to see him fight in any era? Put aside his skills you will get a exciting fight thats something i never knocked. did you see spzilka get carried on a stretcher/Still think this era doesnt provide? Half the fun for me honestly is he annoys the entire boxing industry/gfans by avoiding big fights,i think at almost 40 something fights thats an accomplishment bc he HOLDS a belt now too. Hes also had pretty good publicity from knocking out Charlie z/fury face off in ring and hotel scuffles ...he does it all.

8. D. Duboi ...why is he important...he new i know...hes also a 6'5 240 giant with elite skill thats going to fight joshua down the line at 19 look for him because he can fight and punch just another example of WHY this era has talent not just side shows. the olympic champion is going to head the new batch come 3 years from now.

9. T. Morrison ..why is he important? Because hes under Freddy Roach now and he hits HARD. with one amatuer fight he turned pro and like his dad Tommy Morrison he looks genetically like where his father left off. Knowing Tommy alot i see where he COULD improve on as Roach already has him looking sharp and night and day from his first fight.Cant wait untill he moves up in competiton his style will force knockouts to happen...that why hes important . as well as being a fighter from the U.s where good ones are far and few between ....my eye tells me hes going to make ripples .

10. Haye. whys he important? Hes still crafty and very dangerous oppoent his beefs with Wlad and Briggs are great and he possesses speed and power.we wont know really what to make of him when he returns but you cant count a guy out with really only one legit loss at Hw and that was to Wlad Klitchko.He could potentially bring exciting fights should he stay around and win.

This is a new era it should shape up pretty quickly like the 90's..i have NO doubt its better than the 70's now in entertainment terms.People tend to over hype that era soley on Ali but reality is if you look at this list ( theres more guys) i didnt even include Joshua or klitchko........Martin /Miller/ Mansour /Browne/ Chisora/ are also players here still.

Of course some guy will retire by the time some develope but there will be no shortage of good fights. and what i see in joshua who may very well be the most dangerous guy in the history of boxing when hes the finished product tells you how good this era may get along with new ly sighned HW's that are olympic caliber ..big HW's skilled that could punch coming from europe as well Pletchko/Dychko...these guys look good too.

 

Breazeale came in shape vs Joshua but hes not going to decline so early he will improve,he wouldnt be polished enough to deal with wilder bc of defense issues but after Wlad and Izu i think he will take from those fights.