Was AJ unlucky not to get the fights that would make him an ATG

He bottled it himself vs Ruiz and Usyk. Thats on him.

 

You're assuming he'd beat both. He'd not beat Fury and although I'd favour him over Wilder, for Joshua there's an element of Russian Roulette about that fight.

Joshua was never going to be an ATG. He's simply not good enough...

 

In retrospect, he's lucky (if it was luck) that he didn't get the Fury or Wilder fights and only fought old Wlad.

He might have won any of those matchups, but he wouldn't have won all of them.

Obviously it sucks for the audience and the sport as a whole that we didn't see those great fights that should have happened years ago.

 

How would beating Wilder make him an ATG?

 

He seemed quite happy to me in facing Molina, Takam, Martin, Breazeale, Pulev, Parker level opposition

 

Whether you like it or not, Wilder is a second ballot Hall if Fame inductee, you know, that thing Americans are obsessed about.

 

That was what I was thinking, but there's a catch here.
If Wider had said yes to the $100M or later $120M 1+2 fight deal, there would be a very big chance Joshi now would have had 2 KO's over him.
It would have upped Joshi's status to the undisputed #1 (all belts + new lineage), but it would also have meant the Fury vs Wilder fight wouldn't have happened, and we all know that a lot of Fury's now mythical status is build of old Wlad and 2 times Wilder.
The downfall of Joshua would have inevitably happened, maybe at the hands of someone like Ruiz, maybe Fury or maybe Usyk. Which would have cemented their stardom too.

Somehow Wilder became this weird unlikely benchmark, in a screwed up HW landscape.

 

he is lucky to been champion at all.
is not every boxer get nobody like Charles Martin fly into backyard looking for payday with IBF belt .
or vacated WBA match with against 41 age boxer who is not win fight in 2 years
or WBO Parker fresh off dispute decision with Hugh Fury & decision with Cojanu a nobody whoever.
&
because Fury is basket case mental case 377 pound walking around in sulk attitude depressed.

this is good fortunes
very weak opposition to gain unified champion status
very fortunate lucky circumstances for Joshua & his promoters

 

So the tier above Wilder's opposition? Got it.

Unsurprisingly, you ignored Wlad and Povetkin. Two people that would have sparked out Wilder.

So, without Wilder and Fury to fight, who exactly should Joshua have fought? Ortiz?
That's right - he offered Ortiz his highest ever payday, but old man Jenkins ran for the hills and rematched Wilder. Remember?

I dislike Joshua as much as the next person but claiming that he ducked anyone is complete nonsense. Even Fury's family have gone on record and stated that Joshua hasn't ducked a soul since going pro.

 

"there would be a very big chance Joshi now would have had 2 KO's over Wilder."

Considering that AJ got knocked down 4 times an quit against a 5'11, SMW arm length, 270 lbs late sub with relatively little power, there's a "very big chance" that 6'7, undefeated, GOAT right hand Wilder would have put his fist right through AJ and he'd have become undisputed.

I know people worship pre-Klitschko era heavyweights but Fury's wins over Wlad and Wilder 2 are clearly the two best wins of the last two eras and I doubt any other heavyweight in history would have run the 6'5+ long-reigning ATG KO artist in their backyards 4x gauntlet without losing once, particularly coming back from where Fury was.

 

Remember when Deontay said that Fury is the softest punching heavyweight champion in history? And then proceeded to get hurt over and over?
Remember when Wilder was dropped by Harold ****ing Sconiers?
Remember when Wilder was out on his feet against Luis ****ing Ortiz?
Remember when Wilder was losing to and buzzed by Gerald ****ing Washington?
Remember when Wilder was hurt badly by Eric ****ing Molina?
Remember when Wilder was hurt by Artur ****ing Szpilka?
Remember when Wilder was dropped by a body shot from Fury?

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AJ would never have been an ATG…. He lacks the chin, the stamina and the mental strength.

 

He did have the fights. He just didn't win them.