Tony Tucker vs. this version of Anthony Joshua

I'm not saying they haven't but Tucker never really impressed me much he was a big durable guy but lacked fire and never really stood out to me apart from having good durability.

Tucker is not an aggressive fighter and he would more than likely engage Joshua in a cautious tactical affair. And I would favour Joshua to beat a cautious Tucker on points.

Tucker doesn't have the kind of power that Dubois possesses.

 

Norris was a good high quality fighter... not the best but deserving of respect

 

Tucker from the Tyson Fight whoops him. AJ's time has come and passed.

 

Suggesting "everyone will come out of the woodwork now Joshua lost" does imply you think Joshua's critics are only now emerging on account of his loss to Dubois.

Tucker wasn't a World-Beater but he was coming to prominence at the same time as Tyson and, later, Lewis.

He acquitted himself quite well against these two superior fighters, who represented his only losses in 51 fights, by mid-'93.

Tucker's durability is a significant factor in his ability to win this match-up.

Tucker also had a very respectable KO percentage and more than enough power to put Joshua on ***** street.

He doesn't need that kind of power.

 

Special Ed ?

Tucker stopped 47 out of 65

Tucker never quit

Tucker was never stopped by a jab from a former featherfisted Cruiser weight

Tucker went 24 with Tyson/Lewis

AJ/Dubois would not last 5 combined vs those two

 

Because people will go OTT now and think Joshua loses to every single notable Heavyweight. Tucker's claim to fame is losing wide decisions to Lewis and Tyson and beating Douglas who was ahead on points and quit.

I don't think Tucker's superior durability really means anything because he wouldn't engage Joshua in a fire fight. He would fight a tactical cautious fight and more than likely gets out pointed by the bigger puncher.

As for Tucker only losing to Tyson and Lewis in 51 fights that's because most of his fights were against absolute nobodies. In those 51 fights the only notable opponents he fought were the following names...

Jimmy Young = Who was journeyman/gatekeeper at this stage way past his prime.

James Broad = A fat fringe contender who took Tucker the distance Witherspoon poleaxed him in 2 rounds a 1 year before.

Orlin Norris = Talented but at 5'9 you would think the 6'5 Tucker would be able to outbox the much smaller man but infact he was out jabbed and completed neutralized in a fight that pretty much everyone thought he lost and he did infact lose the rematch aswell to Norris.

Oliver McCall = Solid win but again a Split Decision in another close disputed decision.

Buster Douglas = Another solid win but only because of hindsight and Tucker was losing the fight until Douglas did his Golota impression and randomly quit.

As for Tucker's KO percentage as i already said atleast 85 percent of fights were against absolute nobodies and his power never made an impression at world level. His only stoppage against a ranked opponent was Douglas who quit so not really an actual proper stoppage which showcases Tucker's power.

Maybe i'm a bit harsh on Tucker but i think he gets overrated in general because he went the distance with 2 notable fighters. I commend him for his durability but for the most part his record was heavily padded with not alot of substance in regards to stand out wins, and to me he seemed to lack fire which stopped him from being one of the true elites.

 

"Special Ed" you're so funny and witty insulting someone on a boxing forum make you feel important does it ? And the fact you would use such a low class insult says more about you as a person.

As for Tony Tucker yeah the same guy that got his ears boxed off by a 5'9 Cruiserweight and losing wide decisions to notable fighters means you win hypthetical match ups ? Got you great argument you got there.

Also Tony Tucker's first 30 or so fights were against absolute nobodies and he only has 1 stoppage against a top 10 ranked opponent which was Douglas's quit job. He's not a big puncher so don't try and make out he is his power never made an impression at world level.

 

I respect Norris i think he's talented and actually a tad underrated but you would think 6'5 Tucker would be able to do better vs 5'9 opponent. Especially since Tucker had a 12 inch reach advantage but somehow got out jabbed by a fighter with 70 inch reach. And the issue for me is that Tucker never seemed to be able to go through the gears or have that fire in his belly.

Trust me i don't like Joshua at all but i think this fight is a winnable fight him, Tucker doesn't throw alot of punches and he fights in a cautious style. So Joshua would be able to fight more at a measured pace he likes without being heavily pressured like he was vs Dubois who jumped on him and was winging big punches straight from the get go.

 

I'm quite aware of Tucker's modest achievements. But, I'm not really looking at those and nor do I necessarily need to when matching him up in a fantasy fight - especially when it's against the version of Joshua we've just recently seen.

In his prime and at his best, Tucker was still better than most, if not all of Joshua's opposition. He certainly would not be out of place at the top end of Joshua's ledger.

And at what level has Joshua campaigned successfully against, post Ruiz Jr? Even before Ruiz Jr, his best win was against and aged Klitschko, coming off a loss a year and a half earlier.

One doesn't need to have Foreman-esque power to trouble Joshua - and, Tucker's power is heavy enough to cause him a problem. It is also coupled with marked hand-speed.

As for people going OTT now... ...well, some might, but I would say it isn't going over the top to suggest any durable heavyweight who comes to fight, with respectable power and a little bit about them (a la Ruiz Jr and Dubois) is going to give Joshua problems. So, I think it would be fair to suggest that a good number of notable Heavyweights in history probably would have beaten the version of Joshua we saw this last weekend.

Back to my original point - For some, Joshua's limitations might only have just dawned on them. However, there are others who have been tempering the hype machine around AJ for some years now.

 

Joshua's stock has taken a serious dive.
Tucker beat easily the current version of Joshua and probably prime Joshua too.

 

I guess let's wait another year and see if it was just a very bad night at the office and see if Joshua can rebound or if he really is starting to fade as a fighter now.

 

Indeed.

Although, it's one of several bad nights at the office for AJ, over the last five years. So, if he's fading, this is just an added factor to the already limiting constituents of his game.

Obviously, there's the possibility he can come back and do a better job against Dubois, but I am not sure it would do much to change minds about Joshua and his standing against the history of heavyweights.

It also doesn't help that the sporting relevance of fights against opponents like Fury and Wilder are already questionable will be even more so by the time those bouts come off (if they ever do) - despite the money to be made. A Joshua/Wilder bout, especially, would tell us very little.

I think AJ is still able to beat the likes of Kabayel, Bakole or Ajagba with relative ease. But, I'm not sure whether beating those guys would rebound Joshua's stock all that much, either.

Zhang is an aging novelty act that's wearing a bit thin, so a win here might also be seen as dubious.

Convincing victories over Parker and perhaps a win over Hrgovic might go some way to repositioning perspectives - maybe.