I think the reputation will be back quite quickly if he wins the rematch and wins easily enough. The first fight will become a fight people mention in the same breath as other major upsets, but it's not like Joshua got to that point by being useless. Obviously it's dependent on him not losing again but it's such an overreaction to go from what he was to a guy who simply cannot hope to compete with Andy Ruiz.
I broadly agree. I think one thing to be mindful of is how he's marketed. He's very clearly aimed at the mass market. He looks in fantastic shape, he says all the 'right' things in the media, he's got a great story going from potential criminal to Olympian to World Champion. As a result; he's got loads of great endorsements with Lynx, Beats, Lucozade etc. Matchroom and his team have done a brilliant job into making him a commercial phenomenon - as evidenced by the money he can command in fight negotiations, the PPV buys and attendances at his fights. The flip side of marketing to people who perhaps aren't necessarily enormous boxing fans is that the concept of being 'undefeated' is really important. It's wrong, but it's just how it is. People who follow boxing in more depth understand that most of the greatest boxers lose at some point. People who are primarily football fans perhaps, who buy a couple of PPVs per year on top of their sky package, don't see it like that. A bit of his aura has gone and won't come back even if he avenges the defeat. Matchroom are partly responsible for this notion. It's fairly accepted that someone from Matchroom (maybe even Eddie himself!) tweets from Michael Buffer's account sometimes. I can understand the logic of this, Matchroom understand that most sports fans (not necessarily boxing fans) associate Buffer's "let's get ready to rumble!!" as synonymous with boxing. He would be seen as an elder statesman voice of reason. They then use his account ot tweet things like this... (picture of Joshua and Katie Taylor shortly after Wilder vs Fury) "@MichaelBuffer Both with PERFECT RECORDS (having a draw on your record eliminates one from being PERFECT). #LetsGetReadyToRumble ®" (Link). Comments like that help perpetuate the myth of the '0' and give it more importance. Joshua losing will have given him a bit of a dent and I'm not convinced avenging the loss would do much to cure it. Apologies, bit of an essay - but think it's an interesting point.
There is absolutely no way in a million years he doesn't invoke the rematch clause. Do you really think Hearn is going to risk all of the belts being with Haymon.
He has to go for the rematch. If he loses the rematch he will probably more likely get the wilder fight to be honest. This defeat could be a blessing in disguise. I think he wins the rematch if he avoids trading with Ruiz. Ruiz is to quick on the inside for him. If he picks him off at range and bores us to death he wins this rematch. If he doesn't take the rematch, then it looks very bad. It shows that he knows it wasn't just a bad night but mentally he isn't right. He should put his career on the line and go for it. He will get more respect that way.
You make some good points, but I think history shows us that often fighters simply get bigger after they lose. Tyson, Lewis and Holyfield for example all had their biggest fights by miles after they had lost. It's been an odd theory that Joshua was a single loss away from having a ruined career and that he would, in turn, bring Matchroom down with him. Now we get the chance to see if that happens, but I'd suggest it wouldn't be the slightest shock if by the end of the year he's still WBA, IBF and WBO champion having just fought in front of seventy odd thousand.
I think that it's a very different time. In terms of mass appeal, Boxing had undergone a bit of a lull during the Klitschko era, especially at Heavyweight. Lewis, Holyfield and Tyson all operated in an era where boxing was mainstream and glamorous. Joshua and Matchroom have done some excellent work in bringing it back into the mainstream, well done to them for that. Frank Warren understands the sport, but he was well behind in how to operate a modern boxing business. He's doing a bit better now with BT Sport however. I don't believe that a second Joshua loss would bring down Matchroom. I think they're a very strong operation and Hearn has a few fighters who could easily catch public attention. Joshua is exceptionally marketable due to being a heavyweight, looking the part and his back story.. but Matchroom have others. For example I have a sneaking suspicion that if Scott Fitzgerald fights under Matchroom in the future and carries on winning.. he could develop a Ricky Hatton-esque following.
Joshua has gotta take control of his own career now and tell Hearn and everyone else to **** off for a while whilst he has a rest. He’s been non-stop for 7 years+ with the massive weight on his shoulders. I think he’s relieved it’s all over after that defeat and if he steps back in that ring not mentally ready he will get his head boxed off again.
He has not boxed for 8 or 9 months?! the problem is he has got this big massive team to feed his ego and he thought he was untouchable. He needs to take the rematch or he is done.
There is no chance in hell he wont take the rematch. Cant believe people are that naive to think he can take tune-ups. He's a PPV star and sells out 80K stadiums, you really think he's going to start fighting guys like Helienius lol Who would pay or go and watch that? This was the issue with taking the Martin fight and winning the world title so early. It meant after he won he couldn't stay at a similar level and learn his trade and improve. He automatically went into bigger stadium and unified world title fights.
I don't think that became a problem as such. He stepped up after Martin but he went on to beat everyone he faced at that level for a good few years.
But it meant he was fully in the deep end after being world champ. Had to face mandatories or unify, stadiums got bigger and couldn't continue fighting guys like Martin, Molina etc. When you compare it to Whyte, after the AJ loss he was able to go back and fight guys like Allen, Helenius, Lewison, Chisora etc. All learning fights that went towards Whyte being one the most improved fighters. Aj has stagnated or arguably regressed as a fighter.
AJ is hoping this is a GSP v Matt Serra type blip. He wins easily in the rematch and keeps on winning It is likely, like GSP, that AJ will change his style to be very risk adverse and hence boring
Yes, but he’s just been smacked all over ring and knocked down 4 times, the previous 9 months are now irrelevant. I think people are underestimating just what that does to a fighter. If there are people who genuinely care about him who aren’t financially benefitting from him then they should tell him to have a break and a couple of tune-ups because there’s at least 10 heavyweights out there who will now think if they can take a shot to land their own they will beat him.
