Ruiz x2 (had gone the distance with a litany of journeymen despite being a pressure fighter) Pulev (aged, inactive, didn't KD/KO 3 of his previous 4, took 7 rounds to stop glass chinned quitter Dinu) Usyk x2 (didn't KD/KO his more durable cruiser opponents or Chisora) Franklin (somehow went the 10 round distance with uber glass chinned quitter Sour) It's been almost 5 years since AJ's been matched against a fighter with KO power at "world level" and even pressure fighter Povetkin didn't manage to KD/KO Hammer or Rudenko over 12 rounds in his previous 3 fights, prior to that AJ was matched against light punchers Parker and Takam. Why have all of AJ's last 6 opponents (and 8 of his last 9) been light punchers? Is it a coincidence?
Well with Ruiz 1, it's because it was AJ's US debut and Hearn's attempt at broadening his appeal into that market. Ruiz was also a late replacement so they likely wanted someone they perceived as an easy touch. Obviously that backfired. Pulev and Usyk were mandatories if I recall right, so prolly just coincidence there. Franklin is supposed to be the first fight on a comeback trail, so he was picked for similar reasons to Ruiz. It's a confidence building fight so they don't want anyone they think is too risky. Whether he's truly a stepping stone or yet another shake up in AJ's career remains to be seen.
Who should he of been matched up with instead of usyk or pulev? He obviously had to take the 2nd Ruiz fight because he lost the 1st
For the most part they were either mandatories, or unification fights weren't they? Exception being Ruiz of course, but we all know what happened there.
The Ruiz fight wasn’t planned, Pulev was a stay busy fight, Usyk was a serious challenge that just happens to lack power, and Frank is just there for the check. Despite his chin he doesn’t seem to have a problem fighting punchers like Wlad, Whyte, and Povetkin. It’s only 3 but there really isn’t much active boxers taking on multiple ko artists. He also wanted the Wilder fight but we all know why that didn’t happen.
Not the biggest fan of AJ but he's been willing to fight more than Wilder and Fury have. Wilder is probably the best-matched heavyweight champ in history and people only have a positive opinion of him because of his efforts in Fury1 and Fury3. Fury is THE heavyweight champion of the world right now, but is slowly starting to destroy his own credibility with Chisora 3 and losing his pen against Usyk Ruiz was a stand-in for Miller who was a fun personality, native New Yorker who would've helped AJ's US debut (imo AJ was always doomed in America as his appeal is a certain middle-class British crowd) Pulev was a mando. Was also a mando before and got replaced by Takam. This fight was also a stay-busy fight during covid let's be honest Usyk was a mando/rematch. Probably a cherrypick gone wrong too Franklin is a rebuilding fight that sets up Whyte2
Who could he have fought that was a bigger puncher than any of the above? Wilder himself was terrified of punchers so he's ruled out, so the only other options are Joyce (I think that fight can be made) and low level guys like Makhmudov and Zhang. There aren't too many big punchers in the top ten at the moment.
There aren’t many big punchers in the division. I do think he would avoid them even if there was. He hasn’t been the same since Wlad IMO. It showed he could be hurt and until then he was seen as invincible. He has been more reserved ever since and clearly Eddie knows if he gets sparked out he is finished. The silly thing is fans would love to see him in a shoot out, win or lose.
