Let’s say Joshua never gets the Fury fight (either Usyk de-rails Fury, or Fury retires) but in his next 3 fights he defeats Wallin, then Wilder (assuming he beats Parker), and then faces and defeats Hrgovic for the IBF belt before retiring as IBF champion. Would he be a HoF fighter with that resume? Would he place above Fury in this era? not saying these things will happen, but interested as to how he can burnish his career in light of the Usyk defeats, and without Fury. TBH, if the above played out Fury would ironically need Joshua more than vice versa. Thoughts?
If he beat Wallin, Wilder and Hrgovic and end career as three time Hw Champion he for sure will be at HOF. His resume will be quiet impresive. It is very good now and he will be add 3 names from top 10 of best hw today and 2 of thoose names are in top 5.
People would give him a ton of credit, because basically he is held to low standards due to his numerous adoring fans and copious propaganda from UK media. If we turn it around and talk about Fury beating Wallin, then Wilder, then winning a title against the Croatian, nobody would give him much credit. He already hasn't had much credit for beating Wallin and Wilder and nobody rates the Croatian that high. For Joshua to get any credit for a Wilder win, he really should need to beat him a couple of times and even then he's facing a Wilder near forty, stopped twice by Fury, inactive, which is absolutely not the same fighter Fury faced. So he isn't entitled to as much credit as Fury. Joshua has avoided the Fury/Wilder fights for years, it's very obvious. He had his chance to make those fights and get the wins at the appropriate time, before they were old. But he chose to be a smart budines mon.
If they timed it right, with politics moved aside, he could possibly have become undisputed in a relative weak era a few years back. But the outcome suggested here is pretty good going, considering his story... No real amateur background, too many distractions, and fighting one of the best pugilists ever, twice.
For sure, beating Wilder would greatly boost his legacy. A win over Hrgovic would also be a very impressive scalp.
He’d be a HOF fighter but not an ATG. He’s too chinny and his stamina and desire will always be in question.
If he cant beat one between Usyk (impossible, he has already lost 2 fights against him), Fury or Wilder he will always be ranked below the third position. Theres no story.
would he (or anyone else) REALLY need to beat Wilder multiple times though? Surely the nature of his (or anyones) victory determines the necessity for a rematch? Wilder - Fury necessitated a rematch because to be frank Fury was robbed of a UD in fight 1. Fight 2 was non competitive, and so the third fight was enforced via legal arbitration. So, not sure why anyone would have to beat an opponent multiple times for legitimate credit (unless it is controversial)?
well…yeah. That was the crux of the hypothetical scenario I posted. Given Joshua’s two losses to Usyk, how does he burnish his career without being able to defeat the top guys (Usyk - and without facing Fury - again hypothetical). Where would defeating his next opponent, Wallin, and following that up with a win against the consensus number 3 in Wilder, before defeating the undefeated Hrgovic for the (apparently soon to be vacated) IBF belt leave him in your estimation? it’s a hypothetical that is based around achievement in a division which is perceived to be top heavy.
