Who has the greater legacy, Anthony Joshua or Deontay Wilder?

Up to a point.

Fury looked in pretty shocking condition, which counts against that argument... Then again, he was in pretty shocking condition in the 3rd Wilder fight, too.

Fury often looks worse against worse opponents - so none of this is easy to judge... If anything, it just makes it harder to judge how good (or not) Wilder showed himself to be against Fury.

 

"None of AJ's were shot"

Post loses all credibility.

 

Wilder will be remembered for three things in particular as it stands:

1. Being the best American heavyweight of the 21st century thus far (the only American male to medal over two consecutive Olympic cycles out of 18 athletes, 10 of which were future world champions, first American heavyweight champion in 7.5 years, historically long reign)

2. His ATG trilogy with Fury

3. Very possibly being the biggest one-punch KO artist ever


Joshua will be remembered for four things in particular as it stands:

1. Beating final fight 41 Wlad in a life and death in London 17 months after Fury schooled and dethroned him in Germany

2. Being dropped 4x and quitting in 7 against a morbidly obese Mexican midget in his first and last fight in America

3. Being schooled 2x by light punching cruiser Usyk, whose most challenging fight at heavyweight is still arguably Chisora

4. Never fighting Fury or Wilder


Everyone knows this is true. Wilder and Joshua share the same era, comparisons are therefore very easy and few at this point favour any version of Joshua over a non-shopworn Wilder. So what is Joshua's legacy given these facts?

https://www.boxingforum24.com/threa...2018-who-would-have-won.713404/#post-22628468

 

I’m a bigger fan of Wilder than AJ - and as I said - I have him beating AJ if and when the fight happens provided he’s not too damaged from the wars with Fury.

I’ve also in the past been one of the few posters here highlighting Wilders unappreciated skills that help his power do what it does. (Timing, understanding distance)

Winning over Wlad is better than losing to Fury, and the other top contenders that AJ has beaten are generally a bit better than those Wilder beat - but most of them don’t matter because the division isn’t good outside of the top-top guys who’ve hardly fought one another.

 

Only legacy Wilder has is a Subaru Outback.

 

"Winning over Wlad is better than losing to Fury"

Fury schooled Wlad in Germany 17 months prior to Joshua going life and death with Wlad in his final fight in London, ergo the Fury draw is the superior result in my opinion. At the very minimum it's debatable.

Losing to Fury twice isn't as bad as losing to Ruiz and Usyk three times.

Many pretend that legacy is just a matter of how many Pulev's and Takam's you've beaten. If that were the case, Joshua wouldn't be regarded with such derision relative to Wilder in terms of fighting ability/threat level.

 

You raise some very valid points, and have helped to reconsider my initial take. As of now, they’re fairly close - contrary to what I said in my initial comment.

I suppose all that will really separate them at this point is either a win over one another or Usyk/Fury.

 

And that's just recently...

Having the balls to get in with even a slightly faded, old Wlad when you're a relatively green pro is "daring to be great" - moreso than anything Wilder did on its own, including Fury 3.

For my money, daring to be great means you have to win - it's a statement in hindsight that you risked getting beaten to find your limits, and came out on top... So whilst going back in with Fury for 2 (having been embarrassed by a very rusty and unfit Fury), then going back in for 3 (having been utterly dominated in 2) took guts, because he lost it's more a case of "at least he tried" in my book - it deserves credit, but I don't see it quite the same.

 

Possibly one of the most propaganda based posts I've ever seen

 

AJ had a much better reign than Wilder IMO and while the Ruiz loss was embarrassing there's nothing to say Wilder wouldn't have suffered the same fate against Ruiz. At that point in time , Ortiz was Wilders best win, and I was never high on Ortiz. So from an achievement standpoint, AJ all day for me

BUT

In the long annals of heavyweight history, is AJ that memorable? 50 years from now, will people talk about AJ? I have my doubts , but I am 100% sure Wilders right hand will still be talked about: whether you think it's overrated or not (hi Bubbles ) it'll always be in the conversation along with guys like Shavers for hardest hitters in heavyweight history so in that sense... Wilders legacy may have more longevity

 

"I suppose all that will really separate them at this point is either a win over one another or Usyk/Fury."

If Joshua slipped to 4 losses against Wallin while Wilder blew out Parker, I think even Joshua's most die-hard defenders would have to raise the white flag.

(I'm probably being wildly optimistic)