Why doesn't Joshua get the credit for avenging his losses that Lewis does?

This is the kind of comparison that shows you how much better Lewis was than AJ, this isn’t hating either. His story isn’t done yet so he still has a slim chance but Lennox was leagues ahead really, in every way. Just look at the Vitali fight, if the was ever a time to quit or find a way out, that was it. Lewis has that fighters heart you didn’t always see with him but it was there, you have to question AJ in that area after the Ruiz saga.

 

That's what I said.

 

Fighters are only appreciated after they retire. Just like Joshua is called a fake corporate robot Lennox Lewis was a confused canandian/british fighter who the Brits never really got behind.

 

I think it’s got a lot to do with the perception and expectations towards Lewis and Joshua. Joshua is a wrecking machine while Lewis was a master boxer. Lewis fighting safely behind the jab is somewhat more “acceptable” than when Joshua does it. Not my personal opinion btw, as I consider Joshua an underrated boxer, although Lewis clearly was better.

Many point to how Lewis demolished Rahman, but seldomly point out how his rematch with McCall was some weird ****. Very comparable to Joshua-Ruiz II, in that the fighter who won first time out was clearly not in the best shape possible. Actually, I believe being a mental wreck (McCall) is far worse than “just” being fatter (Ruiz).

Adding to this, Joshua’s performance in the rematch with Ruiz is not really that impressive. Yeah, he outboxed Ruiz, but there were a lot of warning signs. First of all, Joshua clinching looked like a complete amateur. Didn’t lock the arms straight away, didn’t lean on Ruiz and ONLY got by with his strenght. Second, he did the classic “freeze for a moment and get my senses back” when Ruiz got to him, which is alarming.

That being said, he won and did what he had to do.

 

Lewis simply got caught being sloppy by McCall, PEDS don`t make you punch harder.

 

Fury was more impressive in his rematch than Lewis was v Rahman and McCall, plus he wasn`t avenging a loss anyway.

 

Lewis didn`t dominate Rahman before catching him though.

 

People forget now but Lennox Lewis was still taking flack for losses like that up until he retired.

Hell, in his last interview in the ring after his last fight with Klitschko, Larry Merchant was giving him a hard time.

It took a decade or so, when it was clear Lewis was never coming back, and fans evaluated his career as a whole, and the idiots were finally shouted down, for people to give Lewis full credit for beating every man he faced as a pro.

 

Ruiz has far quicker hands than McCall or Rahman had, McCall was very easy to hit.

 

Refuse to pay for another Joshua PPV until he gives Andy his 3rd Kentucky fried trilogy fight!

 

Pretty much this. When you spend well over a decade fighting a who's who of the heavyweight division, quite often on foreign soil, as Lewis did, you are maybe going to have a blip or two. Joshua can be cut some slack for now, he got the job done in the rematch, but the questions will be asked as to whether it was just a blip or whether he has been found out. The nature of his loss was very different to those of Lewis as well. The latter just got caught with huge shots, that can happen at heavy. Joshua took a beatdown. Was there something 'off' with him that night? Maybe. But maybe he just lost to a guy who had his number. One thing's for sure, Ruiz's own lack of discipline denied us the chance to draw any firm conclusions.

 

I think both rematches rang a bit hollow in terms of victories due to McCall's breakdown and the shape of Ruiz, but you can only beat what's in there. We also need to consider the nature of the losses. The first Lewis-McCall fight was a once-in -a-lifetime supershot from McCall and a controversial stoppage. Joshua on the other hand took a far more decisive, sustained beating into submission. Plus, when you look back at Lewis' overall career, it was clearly a blip. The jury is still out on Joshua from here on in. Was Ruiz just a blip or have serious flaws in Joshua's game been exposed? Lewis at his peak didn't have too many...

 

I'm a Brit but not totally sure I agree with all this. From what I've seen, there are more AJ haters here than anywhere else. But then that's the same with most of the heavily hyped fighters in the British game; Hatton, Khan, Calzaghe, even Froch when he became mainstream. There's so much hype surrounding a lot of these guys that I suppose it just rubs some people up the wrong way.