Compared to the hyperbole it was poor. He's a basic boxer...on last nights showing actually looks like he lacks a boxing brain at that level. Had all the advantages and ended up fighting takams fight who,s five inches shorter than him. Takam would have been lucky to touch fury...lewis...klitchko etc. Guys with similar advantages over him.. Takams decent knew that coming in...he's actually pretty skilled with a surprisingly long reach for 6 foot one. But still shouldn't have been within reach of a guy of Joshua's size. Josh actually done everything wrong last night. But still got the win in his defense relying on his very good physical attributes. But doesn't bode well for the future IMO. One thing I ll say that I ve been saying for a long time...his stamina is actually pretty good especially for a man his size. Always said its the chin that's causing the stamina to plummet. We didn't see any sort of malfunction last night like we did against klitchko and whyte...because takam didn't hurt him. His staminas actually very impressive for a big man. Its when he gets chinned it plummets and not just through normal tiredness. He fights through it without too much problem.
I was seriously hungover when I typed that. What I meant was, he didn’t blow his load trying to get Takam out of there, thus leaving himself vulnerable to a big shot. You’re right mate, he was catching some shots. I think he’s an exciting fighter, but I personally think his heavy hands paper over some very ropey boxing skills & ring IQ.
Yeah, there's really no one around I'd make a firm favourite to beat him right now. No one I'd count on. And he ought to improve a bit still. Someone will beat him though, it's inevitable.
I really believe he’s a knockout waiting to happen. Before that dodgy stoppage i thought he was getting v tired.
Tyson Fury's not an active fighter though. He's a long way off being the man who faced Wladimir, I think, now. Would love to see him get fit, come back and have some fights and regain his old form. Yes, the Fury of 2014-2015 would toy with this AJ. I believe.
Yeah, that Tyson wins by a landslide. I think Povetkin could trouble AJ due to being the best boxer-puncher around, as could Ortiz due to his ring IQ. The man to really beat him right now is Uysk. He could come up now and beat AJ.
Joshua's favorite against everybody out there ATM. But I wouldn't be betting a penny of my own money on him. Loads of guys out there that could potentially beat him. I m including dillan white in that...who was poor last night isn't great but in his defence he keeps on coming...and has a little bit more on his single shots than takam. It won't take a great fighter to beat Joshua. On last nights showing I think he,ll struggle with guys his own height for a start that are any good. With the ability to keep him guessing when to throw. Wilder could potentially beat him. I ll tell you one that just needs to make adjustments to beat him that no one fancies...Huey fury. Just needs to learn when to turn defence into attack. Parker could cause Joshua big problems. The guy that breazeale beat could turn into a nightmare for Joshua is it izogu or something like that. Ortiz if he gets back could outlast him. To beat Joshua you need to either outlast him...hit him with something big or outbox him. Takam didnt quite outlast him but he had the durability needed to beat him...just didn't have the power in his single shots. Joshua's great...but last night was a terrible performance from a boxing perspective for someone with the advantages he had. He doesn't actually have the tools needed to outbox people to have the longetivity of guys like klitchko. Lewis. Holmes Etc. He traded inside against a smaller fighter all night. Makes you wonder about pulev after last nights performance. I thought pulev had no chance whatsoever against Joshua. That boxing wouldn't have much chance against him but on last nights showing boxing could frustrate joshua especially a guy as big as puke. I reckon pulev might have had a better shout than first thought.
Conveniently Povetkin and Ortiz keep getting busted for 'roids. They are getting old waiting on the shelf for title shots and then keep getting busted. Weird.
Pulev would be more open to taking pole-axe punches though. Pulev is too upright, an open down the middle. On the other hand, Pulev is big with a solid jab. Very good jab. If Pulev could get a jab working early in AJ's face, he'd stand a chance. But I suspect he wouldn't have the pace and energy to pull that off, he'd pause and get pole-axed somehow, sometime.
Agreed. Pulev seem's to have ZERO idea about distance. He stands WAY too close to his opponents for someone with his reach and quality of jab.
Kind of agree lads. But he's a bit more than your standard upright usual european. His nicknames actually the cobra. His footworks good enough to keep Joshua guessing...he can fight inside. He's actually quite a smart inside fighter. Outside he's decent enough to get points. Think Joshua would have beaten him...but would have been similar to last night...not the the 3 or 4 round blow out I thought when the fight was first made.
7/10 if I'm being generous. He looked strong, landed clean at times and tore Takam up to force the stoppage, albeit slightly premature (not AJ's fault). He was a bit one paced and lacked some imagination in his work. A lot to work on but he gained from this fight.
6. Flawed but not in a fight in which it could be exposed, really. Let's remember, prior to Takam being announced he was hardly - if ever - spoken about as a world title contender. His movement caused problems for AJ, but in this division with the current crop isn't something too worry about TOO much. What would concern if if I'm in AJ's team is that left hand being low, particularly when he throws a right. His body was exposed for large parts of the fight too but given his frame I'm not sure how easy that is to fix. He looked shattered in the 10th, he can't keep coming in this heavy. Takam won the 9th in my opinion and were that say a Povetkin or Ortiz in there with him in the 10th then AJ could have been in real trouble. All the same, he kept the pressure on and threw some nice combos, although he was made to miss plenty. I liked his inside work. After a while he started to control Takam's offence more when he came inside by using his forearms, which is good to see. Reasonably entertaining fight overall.
