The tournament where Joshua arguably lost all 4 of his other fights other than Zhang and definitely the first and last fights of the tournament but still got a gold medal.
Joshua couldn't box a 220lb southpaw. Now he's going to beat a 280lb southpaw? His fragile psyche/ego would crumble after the first few hard shots, much the same way it did against Usyk. Joshua was flinching and over reacting when getting hit by Usyk. Zhang hits a lot harder than Usyk.
Well, AJ was scared to death to let his hands go against Franklin so how is he going to throw when Zhang can counter him with power bombs. Him beating Zhang in the minors (amateurs) doesn't mean much now either. AJ would would make this a stinker and try to get into the later rounds to try to outbox him but he'll take shots regardless as his stamina is not to great either. Usyk popped him with the left when he wanted and so will Zhang but that's 280lbs behind it. AJ probably gets bullied in this one. How the mighty have fallen, seems most people now have AJ losing to most top 10 fighters.
Zhang is no Usyk, he certainly isn't some high output pressure fighter. If AJ comes in like a bat out of hell gunning for a KO from the opening bell he possibly gets KTFO. Safety first AJ from the Andy Ruiz rematch boxes his ears off and stops him late. Judging by his performance against Franklin, aggressive AJ is dead, safety first AJ is all that remains. Do the math.
I've never been big on AJ but it's mad how people are suddenly thinking he loses to any half decent heavy. I see the fight going exactly as you have stated here.
Is AJ gun shy? Isn't letting his hands go like he did. If he waits too long Zang counter him to death and stops him. If AJ can build momentum and confidence and starts unloading combinations then its anyone's fight. Your as good as your last fight and Zang was more impressive than AJ buts its another fun fight. Neither have great gas tanks, both punch. At the moment Zang should be undefeated and probably holds a shot better than Joshua so i'd lean towards him winning. Joshua has much faster hands than Joe and is probably more cognisant of his defence as well so he has things he can exploit against Zhang and his sharper punches might give Big Bang a few more problems than Joyce's slow thudding punches. Very interesting fight to be honest.
The current gunshy version of AJ gets blasted out. 4 or 5 years ago Joshua wins this in a short but exciting shootout.