Top 10 Heavyweights

[Earl-Hickey]

I've never been that high on Joshua either, preferring the more natural fighter in Parker. It might be partly a reaction against the massive levels of hype AJ's been getting and the way he was feted after winning the gold medal (both Savon and Cammarelle had good cases for saying they won). But I don't think so. The Whyte fight exposed a lot of flaws in Joshua, pretty major ones that'll need to be ironed out before he can go forward.

There's also the issue, not a new one, that he's carrying far much muscle for his frame. Trouble is, thanks to the hype machine, people have already become accustomed to a certain image of Joshua, a muscle-bound destroyer who blasts people out in brutal fashion. He'd lose a lot of marketability if he started fighting any other way, taking guys rounds, fighting on the backfoot etc. His team might choose to push him forward, knowing his flaws and avoiding fighters who might capitalise on them, in order to protect his current image. That'll hurt him in the long run though, as the longer he fights on without addressing his weaknesses the harder they'll be to correct.

do you want to know the main problem with Joshua?

$4,000,000 for the whyte fight, that's the problem

look at his instagram, it's all luxury hotels, michelin star resturants and selfies with celebrities.

where's the hunger?

I remember fury still training in a garage until about 2 years ago, that builds character.

[Fury4daWIN]

Stiverne has an argument as top 10 but not above Pulev who had a solid career before Wlad and has every chance to rebuild. The issue is, a lot if not most of these guys have refused to fight one another and just fight bums until they get a title shot so in all honesty, beyond Wlad and Fury and Wilder because of his title, there's not much of a measuring stick to who comes next.

It's been a problem for a while though, guys fighting in their own private leagues, never coming into contact with one another for fear of jeopardising their payday. That's where road warriors like Thompson come into play, fighting across boundaries, weeding out the legit from the pretenders, giving some shape to the division.

Still, there are certain things we can deduce. Povetkin and Jennings are fairly easy to rate, as are solid lower level guys like Chisora and Takam. Glazkov's also fairly easy to rate, if you look at his record as it really stands. Ironically I find Wilder hard to place, given his poor level of opposition and a possible fix in Scott. Pulev and Stiverne are hard to rate, I agree. I'd probably rank Pulev higher though, considering his wins over Thompson and Ustinov, both of whom I rank higher than Arreola (who people continue to rate for some reason). I'd also back Pulev to beat Stiverne head to head given their styles and physical dimensions, though both fighters look a bit diminished of late.

[Fury4daWIN]

do you want to know the main problem with Joshua?

$4,000,000 for the whyte fight, that's the problem

look at his instagram, it's all luxury hotels, michelin star resturants and selfies with celebrities.

where's the hunger?

I remember fury still training in a garage until about 2 years ago, that builds character.

I don't tend to follow boxers' lives outside the ring but that's a shame if that's the case. Glad Fury never got the same treatment. He'd never even have got past Chisora.

[b d w]

The other problem for Joshua is that when he takes his first loss I suspect it will be by brutal KO. And while other fighters can comeback from that type of loss something about him tells me it will quickly spiral down from there.

[soul_survivor]

Sorry, what I mean by that is that there isn't a clear gulf in class for either man to be clearly ranked above the other. Joshua has the slight edge in resume with Whyte, but Whyte wasn't particularly proven in the first place, nor did he look that impressive (to me at least). Both fighters have tremendous natural talent, with Joshua the more heavy handed and accurate of the two and Parker the more explosive and naturally fluid.

I think AJs win over Johnson was impressive too. Obviously a faded fighter but one who had never looked close to being stopped.

But obviously AJ and Whyte are the two stand out prospects so far, with Hughie Fury coming in at third.

I just don't get all this love for Joshua and the way some folks are anointing him the 2nd coming of the division. The dude is big and hits like a brick outhouse, no argument there...........

But whoa, against a very limited but durable Whyte he looked like absolute ****e. The due is slow as molasses, his balance is terrible, he looks like a big robot waiting to topple over at times. he doesn't know how to parry a jab, has zero idea how to fight going backwards, throws the same one-two combination with predictable regularity and I suspect doesn't have the greatest of chins. Add to that the dude was absolutely gassed after rounds 2 and 3 before finding a second wind against an even more gassed Whyte.

I've heard it said before and I agree, this cat is gonna turn out to be a HW Jeff Lacy and once he gets beaten he'll fall off the proverbial cliff.

HW is heating up for sure, and Joshua WILL feature in the mix, for sure, but I am 1000% certain that there is zero chance that he is the future of this division. ZERO.

I don't know about all that. Yes there's some already ranking him a top 10 HW but I'm not one of them.

As I've said, he is the best prospect around but there's still a lot of work to be done and like you said, he wasn't completely at home against someone as limited as Whyte, which means he requires a lot of work.

[Jewish-Reptile]

Ortiz "basically an even bigger" Povetkin?

Skill and power are about the same, top of the scale, I would say these guys have been ahead of Klitschko before he lost to Fury, only Wlad had huge size advantage and a negative style to Povetkin's. Ortiz for me has all the attributes of Povetkin, potentially more but crucially he's as big, even bigger than Klitschko. I was saying before the Fury loss he was the danger man to Wlad, now I'm saying he's the biggest threat to Fury and Wilder, hence why they'll avoid him and go after the softer touches like the chinny Joshua and significantly shorter Povetkin, dudes representing a lesser threat than Ortiz, I expect Fury to vacate as opposed to face Ortiz when that order is official if Ortiz continues his current Wilder/Joshua style tear though I feel Ortiz has a victory more impressive than these guys already, he certainly looks the full package, Haymon and Hearn will be concerned with him kicking around the division with their current cash cows looking so flimsy.

[LoadedWraps]

Skill and power are about the same, top of the scale, I would say these guys have been ahead of Klitschko before he lost to Fury, only Wlad had huge size advantage and a negative style to Povetkin's. Ortiz for me has all the attributes of Povetkin, potentially more but crucially he's as big, even bigger than Klitschko. I was saying before the Fury loss he was the danger man to Wlad, now I'm saying he's the biggest threat to Fury and Wilder, hence why they'll avoid him and go after the softer touches like the chinny Joshua and significantly shorter Povetkin, dudes representing a lesser threat than Ortiz, I expect Fury to vacate as opposed to face Ortiz when that order is official if Ortiz continues his current Wilder/Joshua style tear though I feel Ortiz has a victory more impressive than these guys already, he certainly looks the full package, Haymon and Hearn will be concerned with him kicking around the division with their current cash cows looking so flimsy.

[b d w]

As I've said, he is the best prospect around but there's still a lot of work to be done and like you said, he wasn't completely at home against someone as limited as Whyte, which means he requires a lot of work.

See I don't even think he's the best prospect around. A lot of Brits are already creaming their jeans over this dude and he will prove to ultimately be a bust.

Yes he will figure in the mix because he can punch and their is big money and a big fan base behind him. They may even maneuver him into a strap but he will take losses and a few of them if he sticks around long enough and most will end by KO.

There is nothing special about this dude.

[Jewish-Reptile]

Presented with an opportunity to keep his belt or rematch Klitschko he elected to let his belt go. He has a history, if a Joshua or something absurd comes along like a ppv versus Price or Bellew I expect him to vacate, the Brits will literally buy anything I wouldn't be shocked to see Bellew vs Fury or worse Price. Harrison has even featured in PPV's there !

[////]

1. Tyson Fury

Daylight


2. Deontay Wilder
3. Wladamir Klitschko
4. Luis Ortiz
5. Alexander Povetkin
6. Bryant Jennings
7. David Haye
8. Bermane Stiverne
9. Erkan Teper
10. Anthony Joshua

2,3 and 4 are a toss up tbh.

Why on earth would you rank ortiz and wilder above povetkin?