Which heavyweights from the past would stand a chance against Anthony Joshua?

We could sign up a garbage can to this forum, slap an avatar on them, and it would be a much better poster than you.

 

Now that i agree with fully, level headed appraisal.
Now read what the op of this thread has running in general and maybe you will see him for the troll that he is.

https://www.boxingforum24.com/threa...amed-greatest-heavyweight-of-all-time.595553/

 

Classy little boy, real classy, why not make a gif of it?

 

AJ said himself, old school is the best school. Is AJ the best of this era, yes. Is he the best ever h/w? youve got to be joking me. But still, we can only judge once his career is finished and long gone.

 

Not including

A. Lennox Lewis 45% chance to win
B. Mike Tyson. 50% chance to win
C. Vitali klitchko 55 % chance to win

Right now the 3 above vs Joshua now have the right things to give Joshua a fight..a real realistic fight that you can actually make an argument of them being favored over Joshua.



Some that have slim shot. I really don't see many being favored over him.i dont see anyone after Wlad giving him more trouble so i didnt bother listing everyone,as i could list more dangerous fighters to Joshua then Holmes and Ali but here are popular ones!


1. George Foreman. 25%

He would have a punchers chance always,but beyond the 70's version,he tires quickly,relies on size over skill and is very poor defense.this all adds up to a field day for fast counter puncher Joshua.He would be a little more formiddable in his second coming but really it would be a mismatch.it would really look like the breazeale fight with Joshua not toying with Foreman.


2. Larry Holmes. 20%

Holmes would need to out poit joshua with soley a jab not much more. Joshua showed already he could by pass the jab very easy if he wants and the klitchko fight showed that. Not really much to go on here,as Holmes would have major difficulties in this fight.He could beat joshua but has much chance as wilder,which according to me is slim one.


3. Riddick Bowe. 30%

To heavy footed, didnt like trading jabs with longer fighters .Wasnt a good straight puncher so Joshua would slip his loopy power punches thrown off balance with little trouble. This would be a decent fight satyle wise ..but again two different skill sets here and Bowe would be fighting a better inside fighter than himself who just didnt stand in one spot in the pocket.


4. Muhammed Ali. 15%

This is the most talked about match on here concerning Joshua and how he would compare. the hard reality is Ali would be severly limited here trying to keep a power punching /counter punching SHW of him who has elite skills. You aren't just going to move around Joshua and out box him ,you better have a little something on your punch sooner than later.Alis clinching also would not work bc of Joshuas inside ability,not even wlad tried much to hold him...game over.

5. Wlad Klitchko. 35%

Well we already saw this match and saw who won this fight.Joshua is still growing and he holds a few advantages over Wlad that makes him more dangerous all around..combination punching/counter punching/ and style combined. He is superior to W.klitchko and i would favor him almost always if not always. I stick with my 35% chance for Wlad here.

 

Prime Wlad would have stopped Joshua. Would have had trouble doing it but still would have stopped him.

Joshua is a good heavyweight as seen. Overrated power though, he can hit but he's no George Foreman.

 

So Joshua is tied with Tyson as the second best h2h heavyweight?

 

nah, can’t wait that long. We might be long gone by then.

 

You start levying insults at someone who posted an earnestly inquisitive thread, and you want to talk about class?

A garbage bin wouldn’t do this.

 

Prime Ali would pick him apart in under 8

 

So the James Smith and Galvatron combination has finally brought their Joshua nuthugging garbage to the Classic Forum.
This should be good.

 

Go easy or Rez will call you a hater, lol.

 

Jog on son, if you don't recognise a troll then i can't help you.

 

Joshua is a very good fighter. That is obvious. However, he is far from unbeatable. Even in the last 30 years or so these are the some examples who, h2h, would be favoured against him or around 50/50:

Lewis
Holyfield
V. Klitschko
Bowe
Tyson
Witherspoon (on his day)
Ibeabuchi (although there are question marks over how good he really was)
Mercer (on his day was a very good fighter)
Tua (does Joshua have the defensive attributes to win on points? If he were to brawl with Tua, he'd get smashed)
Douglas (in Tyson form)

Guys in the last 30 years with at least a good chance (say 30%) of beating him include:

Ruddock
Bruno
Byrd
Golota
Tucker
Morrison
McCall (on his day)
Smith
Sanders
Prime Haye
Guys like Ortiz & Povetkin

It's no foregone conclusion that Joshua would definitely beat the other top fighters of his division now (e.g. Povetkin, although he would definitely be favourite).

These are just examples of fighters that would have at least a good chance of beating him, and these are only examples from the last 30 years or so. Include some of the older fighters like Foreman, Liston, Ali, etc. and the list ends up being quite large. There are plenty of other guys that would stand a decent chance against him, h2h, as well.

To conclude, Joshua is a very good fighter but he's not a truly special fighter amongst this group.

 

I think the Tyson who demolished Holmes would've similarly treated AJ. The way he gassed against Wlad would mean doom vs a rampaging young Mike Tyson. Even a 1991 Tyson and to a lesser extent, a 1996 Tyson would be a dangerous opponent for AJ.

Lewis was better schooled than AJ. Sure, AJ could pull a "Rahman", but I see Lewis coming out on top. If Lewis had Tyson's chin, I'd definitely favor Lewis.

Vitali was very unorthodox. I can see that fight going either way, but I'd probably favor the Vitali who warred with Lewis or AJ.

Bowe's work rate and stamina could likely do AJ in. Remember, prime Bowe at 235 pounds had enough stamina to keep up with the high pace of a 205 pound prime Holyfield for 12 rounds while AJ was extremely tired in a slower paced fight against a not so prime Wlad. A prime Bowe in their raining punches from all angles would be a nightmare for AJ and the pace Bowe would set. The only question mark is how Bowe's lack of defense would play into the hands of a SHW power puncher in AJ.

I also think the Holyfield who beat Foreman and warred with Bowe and the Holyfield of 93-96 would have possibly beaten AJ as well. If AJ could fight at a high pace without winding, I might pick him over Holyfield. I watched the Joshua/Klitchsko fight again the other night and thought about what would happen if the Holyfield of the Foreman fight or even the Tyson fight was in with him. I honestly think that had he winded like that, Holyfield would've stopped him.

If I could trust more in Joe Louis chin, I'd pick him to beat AJ. The caveat was Louis powers of recovery. If he could take AJ's power, I'd pick him to stop AJ mid to late rounds. I think he had enough power to hurt AJ

Ali is a question mark because of his lack of punching power. I think Ali could outhustle and outwork AJ en route to a decision win. But it would be very, very challenging