How would it go? Stylewise this is not an easy matchup matchup for Joshua. Would he be able to stay on the outside and settle for a points win?
Joshua beats Toney up en route to a UD. I don't think Toney's style would work against such a giant, downhill puncher like AJ. I see Toney rolling a lot of shots but eating a lot, and not being able to find AJ on the returns because AJ would be back outside. It's interesting and I can see the other side of it, but I just don't find it likely. There's a big skill gap between the guys Toney was facing and AJ. Ruiz, Jirov and Peter found Toney consistently and he used his skill and strength to persevere. If AJ finds him the amount of times Ruiz/Peter/Jirov did, it may indeed be lights out.
As much as I love James Toney, I think Joshua would be a problem for him. Heavyweight Toney was at his best against bangers that brought the fight to him. He was great at counterpunching overly aggressive opponents that thought they could break him down. Joshua does not fight that way. I feel like Joshua is underrated big time based off of his recent losses to Ruiz and Uysk. He was caught and hurt badly by Ruiz just like Louis was caught by Schmelling and Lennox was caught by McCall. It happens in boxing but he rebounded nicely against Ruiz in the rematch and showed that he had some depth to his game. Against Uysk, he simply lost to a truly great fighter. I give him a ton of credit for how he fought in the rematch but it simply was not enough against an ATG like Uysk. I think Joshua works behind his hav and is cautious to not open up too much against an elite counterpuncher like Toney. I see him winning a decision while Toney calls him a punk and ***** while while trying to goad him into trading.
Toney can't get to Joshua, it's not like he had quick feet fighting at heavyweight so he'll be on the outside all night .
