Comments Thread For: Anthony Joshua becomes the unfortunate avatar of his heavyweight era

[rckdees]

They just inducted a promoter who’s been in the game a whole year into the hof Joshua’s a lock…$h!& Charles Martin has a chance….e f$&king joke

[Roj]

I wouldn’t write off AJ just yet and I think the way he reacted immediately after the win - not running from the media and appearing more disappointed than devastated - are good signs. I think he’ll do the same thing Lennox Lewis did in the rematch against Hasim Rahman and just wipe Dubois out in the second fight. One thing is for sure: I like Joshua’s chances of beating Dubois in a rematch a lot more than I do Fury’s chances of beating Uzyk when they fight again.

[pnut901]

I wouldn’t write off AJ just yet and I think the way he reacted immediately after the win - not running from the media and appearing more disappointed than devastated - are good signs. I think he’ll do the same thing Lennox Lewis did in the rematch against Hasim Rahman and just wipe Dubois out in the second fight. One thing is for sure: I like Joshua’s chances of beating Dubois in a rematch a lot more than I do Fury’s chances of beating Uzyk when they fight again.

Let me know how much you want to lose on that one.

[Tecnoworld]

This era was destroyed by Hearn... And it's all about mental weakness and money (too much).

On one side, they locked up a big part of the belts by avoiding serious competition for the average boxer that is AJ.

On the other side, Fury lost 30 months, avoiding an overdue rematch with Klitschko.

Most top boxers in this era are mentally weak: AJ, Fury, Dubois, Ruiz.

Usyk is dominating mainly for two reasons (apart from his deluxe technique): mental strength and willingness to fight anyone. Unfortunately, he's now old, so at most he has two or three bouts left to deliver.

Dubois, if he can focus, is very good, but I don't see him reigning for too long.

Bakole is an outstanding contender, but he's not young. Perhaps he'll be given a chance now that the champs are not being protected like AJ was.

I don't see any phenomenal incoming fighter. Itauma is good, but small and not outstanding. He's very young, though, so he's got time...

[landotter]

Hmmnn.... Better than: Norton, Shavers 2x's, Cooney, Bonecrusher Smith 2x's, Mike Weaver 2x's, Corrie Sanders, Tim Witherspoon, James Tillis, Carl the Truth Williams, Michael and Leon Spinks (both Olympic Gold winners), Trevor Berbick, Renaldo Snipes, Gerry Coetzee, David Bey, Oliver McCall (yeah, he fought him at 41), signed to fight Foreman but the promoter defaulted on the money after the initial deposits. As an old man fought McCall, Mike Tyson, Holyfield, Ray Mercer, Butterbean, and more.

A lot of legit champs and/or guys who defeated legit champs in that group. Nah man, not better than that era ...

You do know Holmes was fighting shells of those former great fighters, right? All those names worth anything were light years past their primes. Cooney was 100% a Joshua light. A robotic fighter easy to figure out with power to hut you, and that was the only name in his prime on you list. Norton, Shavers, the older Spinks brother were all carried to the ring as names. Carl the Truth Williams was an all heart, very moderate talented fighter who I liked but is no better than a Zhang. Corrie Sanders?? Really?? Come on now. Holmes did not work up a sweat except in training for any of these guys. This era holds up well against all these names.

[landotter]

The best two big guys of this era lost to a cruiserweight. A great cruiserweight, yes. Fury and Joshua were being called ATG before they had any great wins. Does Wilder really count? People were trying to put him on the P4P list at one point. The hyperbole surrounding these guys was off the charts. This era just wasn't very deep. Holmes beat guys like Ken Norton and Earnie Shavers. Give me Mike Weaver and Gerry Cooney over freaking Deontay Wilder and AJ.

Revisionist history in my opinion. Weaver and Cooney were hyped up at a time there was no internet to argue counterpoints like there is today. I was a HUGE boxing fan while Holmes ruled and Sanders and Weaver were on the same level or a step down as any legit HW in this era. Flawed but with some legit strengths. To try and prop them up as anything else isn't right. No one is mentioning freaking Gerry Cooney as a legit upper tier HW except when they are defending Larry Holmes.

And by the way, Bowe and Tyson both lost to cruiserweight. A great one.

[landotter]

They just inducted a promoter who’s been in the game a whole year into the hof Joshua’s a lock…$h!& Charles Martin has a chance….e f$&king joke

Totally agree. The Hall of Fame in any other sport is a career defining achievement for the elite. In boxing it is a just a formality. I think the WWE Hall of Fame is a bigger honor.

[landotter]

Your giving out hof to a heavyweight that's never beaten a prime elite heavyweight? & avoided the best until Usyk.
They're story hasn't finished yet & Aj isn't even the 2nd best heavyweight in england.
Aj looses to any of the top contenders on his current record of 6-4 in his last 10.
If he retires now he has a shot for what he somehow achieved outside of the ring, not in it.

I went out of my to point out the Hall of Fame for boxing is a joke. But I am willing to take bets that Fury and Joshua make it in. Because the Hall of in boxing is a joke. Top 5 on the ballots always get in. Even if the fighters in the 3-5 positions get like 30% of the votes they get in.

Because the Boxing Hall of Fame is a joke.

[MastaBlasta]

You do know Holmes was fighting shells of those former great fighters, right? All those names worth anything were light years past their primes. Cooney was 100% a Joshua light. A robotic fighter easy to figure out with power to hut you, and that was the only name in his prime on you list. Norton, Shavers, the older Spinks brother were all carried to the ring as names. Carl the Truth Williams was an all heart, very moderate talented fighter who I liked but is no better than a Zhang. Corrie Sanders?? Really?? Come on now. Holmes did not work up a sweat except in training for any of these guys. This era holds up well against all these names.

Without detailing where each fighter was in his career, I named the names to consider the era. The comment quoted didn't factor where anyone was in their career, so neither did I. I like the current era and fighters in it. But I disagree the one mentioned was BETTER than Holmes era ...

PS - Corrie Sanders wrecked Wladimir Klitschko long before AJ fought him.

[MastaBlasta]

What happened to ol BANG3M & Robbie Barrett by the way. Have they recovered

LoL! We won't hear from Robbie Barrett if/until AJ or Whyte or someone under hearn wins a fight. LoL!