Would Prime Max Baer Have Battered AJ?

My mind is not changed back - and, I still believe that Baer has a chance here. At his best, he would present a bigger challenge than most of Joshua's opposition - and much greater than Wallin could muster.

Baer would need to make it a shootout for him to be in it though.

 

To be fair he did come back from that big Wlad knockdown if not Ruiz.

 

Joshua was not only rocked, he was knocked down by Wladmir who is a pretty hard puncher last I checked. Joshua got off the floor to win that fight.

He survived powerful hooks from Whyte and managed to stay on his feet getting wobbled by Usyk ans Ruiz (2nd fight) too. He had a bloody nose and was hurt in the Povetkin fight and won by KO. I'm not saying he had a granite chin, but the idea Joshua would just crumble immediately when rocked or hurt doesn't hold up under scrutiny. He only has 1 KO loss in 30 fights in an era of huge bruisers.

 

I don't think he has the disguise or handspeed to really trouble AJ. AJ that beat Wlad still had the self-belief to get rocked and come back to land his own.

I think fighters that can punch like AJ are all wrong for Max and I don't buy the guy who lost to Braddock beating that version on skill or landing enough to disuade AJ from throwing in combination.

 

AJ early ..

 

Yeah AJ the definite favorite. I will say i think the Braddock fight is an example of Max on an off night and he had some. His heart wasn't really in boxing but he did have much better nights. He was a little different.

 

This is the key problem.

In my time here, I've been encouraged to believe that Max is amongst the most devastating punchers of all time, which raw power wise, he probably is - yet, I have never seen any film footage and thought yep, that's a top fighter. Too many off nights, too much telegraphing and too many minutes of life that I will never get back.

As said, AJ isn't my favourite fighter but there's plenty of things that he did prior to Ruiz that I don't like for Max. Even with the puncher's chance, Max doesn't have any stylistic similarities with any of the fighters that have reduced AJ to what he is now.

 

Ruiz has handspeed and punch placement that puts Baer to shame. Baer threw slow windmilling punches visible from states over. His right hand was like MMA fighter Chuck Liddell's--an overhand swipe, not the most precise but a banger of a punch if you stood in its way. AJ would know better. AJ would stop Baer after a crazy beating.

 

Can you name a fight in Max Baer's career that he didn't enter as the bigger or harder hitting fighter or both ? AJ would destroy him as well as many others ...