When was Anthony Joshua’s prime?

After beat Wlad he believed he had it in him
After he got chinned by Ruiz Jr all his deep insecurities and doubts came to the surface
Now that Dubious has chinned him that's it. That's the curtain call.

Boxing is 90% mental and he's mentally shot.

AJ has the gift that he wasn't physically declined as much as Fury & Usyk....but now it doesn't matter because he's mentally shattered knowing once he gets tagged his body is finished.

Fury & Usyk have to be killed physically to be stopped like Muhamad Ali before them and mentally they cannot be beat in their own minds hence why Fury will never fully accept his loss to Usyk in till the rematch has taken place.

 

Yes I've always think there has been a psychological barrier since that fight. A fight that I sometimes think was an old man not pulling the trigger rather than a young man clawing it back.

 

Yes that's true. However, Parker fought very negatively (no fault of AJ) and Povetkin was an old man.

 

His fight vs Dillian Whyte was his prime I think

 

I would say his prime started in Wembley stadium in April 2017 against Klitschko, and ended against Dubois in Wembley stadium in September 2024. He's the same fighter throughout.
Age 27 - 34. That's a standard 'prime age range' for a modern heavyweight. Physically he's always remained in great shape. His style has never been refined or sophisticate enough to be judged to have improved or regressed. He was never that good. He was always a good offense-oriented fighter with a devastating arsenal, a good finisher, but throughout his 'prime' he was always vulnerable because he has stepped up against a better class of fighter than he was facing in 2013-2016. He managed to get the 'old men' (Wlad, Povetkin) out of there as they wilted, but most of the younger fighters (Parker, Ruiz, Franklin) took him the distance in plodding fights.

At 35, coming off the Dubois defeat, he'll be in a post-prime stage.

 

Povetkin was younger than Klitschko when Fury faced him...

 

Don't think that's relative Macc. Boxing wear and tare is more relevant. Povetkin was definitely slowing down albeit on a good run of 8 wins since his Klitschko defeat 5 years prior. And yes I did check boxrec.

 

Just like Klitschko was slowing down (medicore performance with Jennings) plus had a baby momma with baby blues around the fight date. We can go on and on if we want to pick holes in resumes.

 

That's very true.

 

What you're saying is kind of true, despite the great things AJ has achieved. Most of his career was illusionary, guys who were old, or never any good. Most of them tailor made for him. It's live, fresh opponents with a killer instinct that he has always come up short against. His prime never really came as it was always all about clever matchmaking.

 

2016-2022. IMO someone's prime usually begins once they've been a pro 4-5 years and their prime normally lasts 5-6 years or so.

 

Last week up until 10:14pm apparently.

 

I think 2020-22. He was at his very best against Usyk, just couldn't get it done. But there is no shame in that. Joshua was a very good fighter, never a great one. Only his most delusional fans thought otherwise after Ruiz.

Now he's mid-30s and has been through a lot of battles. I still think he has some good fights left, but he's clearly on the slide.

 

No one is prime after they are defeated they are always past it (or injured ) according to their fans

 

This. He got managed carefully throughout his career and it probably peaked after scraping past 41 year old inactive Klitschko 7 and a half years ago.