What do you all think would be best for Joshua?

I think you're right take about 6 months off and have a comeback fight against a beatable opponent, ideally someone who can't punch. This will enable the dust to clear on the Wilder Fury fight who I expect the winner to fight Usyk. Joshua could fight on that undercard of Usyk Fury/ Wilder winner against any beatable fighter Kownacki maybe. If Usyk comes out on top he still gets his rematch and Usyk will have had a very tough fight. If it's Wilder or Fury that's huge money. An immediate rematch is a real gamble considering how badly he lost. It'
's sad how in todays boxing one loss is seen as a career killer though. Geez I think Duran had at least 5 where people said he was finished.

 

His best option is other:

He should actually shoot for the "loser" of the Fury/Wilder matchup (which will be Wilder). Bad blood, and it would still sell very big. The winner of that fight would still be a top 5ish HW and a money maker.

 

Fury isn't really a one shot power guy, I'd say Joshua's right hand is more powerful than anything Fury throws however,,Fury is what I'd call heavy handed . Being such a big man his punches have a lot of more on them than a regular heavyweight using the same style. I really can't see Joshua beating Fury at all at this point. Wilder? Well Joshua wouldn't put pressure on Wilder would he? He'd try to box which gives Wilder punching distance. Could go either way.

 

Joshua isn't a one shot power guy too. He is combination puncher and his most stoppages by TKO. We saw agressive Fury's potential in the Wilder rematch.

Fury beats Joshua badly. Joshua beats Wilder. Wilder is one trick pony. Joshua outboxes or outbrawls him.

 

I think he's of the 'I don't like to spar too much or too hard, losing brain cells in gym wars is for mugs' school of thought, though not to the extreme of safety first philosophy the other muscular boxing Anthony espouses.

Fair enough, I suppose, but war is what boxing is. A guy can look great on pads, but will only get better and better at fighting by fighting. There's a reason Tyson Fury is as natural a fighter as he is, as at home in a ring as he is. Emphasis on lots of sparring.

 

Rematch or retire. Forget the Usyk Wilder or Fury winner. I reckon Fury or Usyk will both retire before the bodybuilder ever gets in position to fight either of them. Changing trainers and fighting scrubs won't help him, at his stage of career. I doubt there would be much financial interest if Joshua takes the easy route. Sink or swim time.

 

Yep, avenge your loss or get in touch with Peloton and be their mascot!

 

I see it a little bit differently...

He can't ever beat Usyk if they both fight the same ways they did the other night.

If AJ let's his fists go a bit more (like Wlad intended to in the Fury rematch that mysteriously never happened ) then Usyk's got a bit more to think about and will be a little more wary.
Usyk has a good chance of winning anyway if the first fight is anything to go by, but AJ's odds would improve a fair bit.

The biggest thing, I think, is that AJ needs to avenge that loss if he wants to be remembered kindly - Ruiz will always be held against him as Rahman is held against Lewis, but if he can come back and beat Usyk that'll do wonders for his place in boxing history.

There's a selfish aspect to it all, too - I'm a boxing fan, not an AJ fan, he's a good fighter but I don't necessarily care what gives him his best chance of beating Usyk, I just want to see good fights between top fighters...
The first was exactly that and I'm convinced the rematch would be at least as good - but more importantly it gets a big fight back in the diary to look forward to. Joshua seems to be the one chasing the big fights - he wanted Wilder for years despite Wilder wanting no part of him (and I can't see that changing) and if Fury wins a third time as expected then he should be going after Usyk rather than Joshua if they're both free (because Joshua hasn't invoked his rematch immediately).

Sure, AJ could fight Whyte (who's been desperate for it for years) or even Joyce, who needs to get on with stepping up (even if AJ is perhaps a bigger jump up from a shot Takam than is advisable)... But that Usyk rematch is on a silver plate, invoke it and give us another great fight, please.

 

People forget that this is the HW division, if Wilder can KO guys late with one punch after getting outboxed the whole fight so can Joshua.

 

The way I see it he's ****ed either way

Joshua simply isn't good enough to beat Usyk, losing twice in a row to him will be extremely damaging to his stock and public opinion of him. He could pursue the winner of Fury vs Wilder 3 (i.e. Fury) but it's unrealistic, why would they fight Joshua when Joshua doesn't have a belt? The winner of Fury-Wilder is likely to either face their WBC mandatory (winner of Whyte-Wallin) or go straight into the undisputed fight vs Usyk.

He could pursue the loser of Fury-Wilder (i.e. Wilder), but given that they couldn't make the Wilder vs Joshua fight even when it was for undisputed back in 2018, it's highly unlikely they would make it now there's no belts on the line; there's bad blood between the camps.

AJ won't retire because he's still a cash cow, plenty of millions still to be made. So the best course of action is to take a tune-up or two, get a few highlight reel KOs so the casuals start to hype him up again, all while trying to position himself for a Fury or Wilder fight, because as unrealistic as it is, he should still at least try to fight one of them.

 

Retirement.

AJ has a net worth of ninety million dollars. Retire, enjoy your money, mind and body while all three are still intact.

I never personally viewed AJ as the warrior who wants blood and glory, willing to die on his shield. He has achieved everything else and should be financially stable for the rest of his life.

It only takes one good punch in the Heavyweight division to rob him of a fulfilling life going forward, why risk it anymore when your ability to take a punch isn't the greatest?

 

Stop making weak excuses should be added to the list.

 

I think he does have it in him, and you see glimpses of it in Whyte and Klitschko fights. I don't know what it is but he does fight in a bit of a shell though these days, maybe it's the Ruiz KO, perhaps the hype/attention has gotten to his head.. Or as you say he's lost the spark due to accomplishing what he has.

IDK, but I do hope he can bring that side out of him in the rematch. It's there IMO.

 

Training camp for this fight must have been hard enough with AJ suspecting Usyk would beat him, now 6 months of camp must be pure hell KNOWING that Usyk can school and stop you. It's almost analogous to death row. Next thing you know it's 2 losses on the bounce, 3 in 5 fights. Where then? Challenge another top 5 HW? It's like watching a slow motion car crash.

 

He should just start taking steroids (if he already hasn't), and quit boxing and instead switch to bodybuilding. At least it doesn't require brains or skills.