What is Anthony Joshuas problem? No chin? No heart? Mentally Weak? Bad gas tank?

What is AJ's biggest problem that holds him back?

 

And yet you base your life around him and the cheap American version of him.

Well done.

 

IMHO
AJ problem is:
Knocked out Dillian Whyte, Charles Martin, Wladimir Klitschko, Alexander Povetkin..., beat Joseph Parker, and then came the "fat guy" whom AJ underestimated.
And what Andy Ruiz started (see the difference in how AJ fought Andy Ruiz 1 and 2), Oleksandr Usyk finished.

So what boxing fans say "that Tyson Fury ate Wilder's soul", so Andy Ruiz half ate AJ's soul.

 

Joshua is a two-time world champion who simultaneously held three of the four belts and had seven successful title defenses. I'm pretty sure he didn't have a problem and that nothing held him back. He may not be the greatest heavyweight ever but the dude was quite good.

 

Hello @kiwi_boxer. Excuse my ignorance but what does the "cheap American version" mean?

 

Unless you're perfect, you have some weaknesses. No boxer has been close to perfect.

 

It would take all of those things being fixed plus a lot more for him to beat Usyk. Sometimes you just run into someone who is at a different level.

He has done about as good as he could with what he has. Especially considering he started pretty late.

 

Agreed, but the question isn't about his problems, it's about what held him back. I was saying he didn't seem to be held back. If the question was about how he could have been better then I would have a different answer.

 

He simply is who he is.

 

Usyk is an all-time great boxer. It's no disgrace to lose to him.

Ruiz landed a punch to Joshua's temple, at a time when he was getting close to being stopped. Again, that's no disgrace. Lots of very good fighters lose one once in awhile, Joe Louis, Lennox Lewis and Wladimir Klitschko for example.

The only thing Joshua did that was a disgrace was a couple of racist comments he made about "superior black fighters" and his meltdown after the second loss to Usyk.

 

He's obviously peaked already and is now having to deal with the situation of realising he isn't as good as he and his fans hoped he would be. Living up to that expectation of himself and his fans I believe led to that melt down after the 2nd Usyk loss.

He achieved a great deal so quickly, only Fury and Usyk have surpassed him at heavyweight in this era but he still fell short of what he had dreamed of becoming and I guess now we will see if he can do what great heavyweights can do and rise from the ashes of defeat after these back to back losses.

As to why he failed. The desire was there and I guess the talent to some degree but talent and desire is only half the equation, Lewis and Wlad I'm sure were even more talented and driven but they needed something else to complete them as fighters and that was Steward. Joshua unfortunately only had McCracken who is a good trainer as his work with Froch showed but he isn't a great one and he lacked the ring smarts to recognise McCracken's limitations and his own.

I also guess his desire waned or was at least he became distracted by the trappings of fame and fortune and the dream of conquering America like he did the UK. That was clearly evident when he lost to Ruiz. But the Usyk losses exposed that he had plateaued as a fighter some time ago or his growth had drastically diminished to the point where he wasn't making the big improvements we saw earlier in his career. Joshua has found his level and it just isn't on the level of Usyk or Fury and I don't think he's smart enough as a boxer to know where he is lacking and so started making excuses instead of seeing those flaws and working on them.

 

I voted mentally weak just cause of the breakdown he had, but truthfully he’s quite the accomplished boxer. Let’s get three cheers for the lad. Hip Hip…

 

I just got back from a long stay in the Twilight Zone.