It’s over. Good win for AJ
The RedCafe Boxing Thread
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AJ looked great from the first second. Best performance in a long time.
Completely dominant - from the first round, after Wallin had felt the power, the fear was evident. Would have loved to see that knock out
That looked like the old AJ tbh.
Didn’t think we’d see that again
Didn’t think we’d see that again
Ronaldo more relieved than Wallin that he can go home
@Glorio that's what's supposed to happen. Joshua held up his end, Wilder not at all.
I think you can see it's a 2 tier division. That's why it's so dull, actually.
I think you can see it's a 2 tier division. That's why it's so dull, actually.
Bit disappointing the way it ended but that right cross left hook combo from AJ should have knocked him down/out.
In any case, the fight was only going to end up with Wallin getting seriously hurt. He didn't really know where he was.
In any case, the fight was only going to end up with Wallin getting seriously hurt. He didn't really know where he was.
With how shit Wilder and Fury have been in their last 2 fights is AJ somehow back in heavyweight contention?
Ajs best performance in a while.
Will Wilder vs AJ happen as Wilder lost?, been watching with sound off.
Nah. I don’t think Wilder wants to box anymore
Not sure if that was the trainer or the ref that called it, but well done. AJ looked great. Not sure where he goes from here without Wilder.
Fair play to AJ, best he’s looked in a long time.
No. Wilder is basically retired and AJ still loses against the winner of Fury-Usyk.
Why not, Zhang?
I mean Usyk got beaten by Dubois and Fury by Ngannou. Is it beyond the realms?
If Wilder goes out now, have to say, he's had a very disappointing career. Best win was what, Ortiz... really? That's pretty shameful.
That pretty much illegitimises him as a top heavyweight imo. So where does that leave Fury? A great win against Klitschko 10 years ago, and a knockout against a washed up Whyte?
Tonight has just reminded me how hilariously overrated Fury is. I'd give AJ a decent chance against him
That pretty much illegitimises him as a top heavyweight imo. So where does that leave Fury? A great win against Klitschko 10 years ago, and a knockout against a washed up Whyte?
Tonight has just reminded me how hilariously overrated Fury is. I'd give AJ a decent chance against him
Until that Fury fight, we just don't know.
Good shout that. Guessing it will be him or Parker next for AJ
You're completely wrong on both claims but you do you
Was a better performance but Eddie's spin was bollocks.
AJ will get another title fight or two but he's done at the top level.
AJ will get another title fight or two but he's done at the top level.
I think the fights with Usyk, as bad as they were for AJ results wise, has improved his body work a lot. Everyone's on about the 1-2, but I think it's those body shots that did the damage
Sadly neither it would be nice to see Zhang next for AJ, but they'll go for the money fight in Ngannou.
Except they didn't.
Aj should fight any of Dubois, Joyce, Zhang, Hrgovic next imo and then aim for the winner of Fury-Usyk.
That's if he actually still wants to be the best, Wilder/Ngannou right now will just be a quick payday.
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What’s the top level in your opinion? We’ve just seen Wilder lose to someone AJ dominated previously, Fury looked like shit against an MMA fighter and Usyk almost lost against Dubois. If that’s the top level, AJ isn’t done at all.
They'll keep him a mile away from him.
Yeah, which is a shame. Zhang will end his career fighting midcarders because Fury/Usyk/AJ won’t go near him.
Only if it makes financial sense will they risk that fight, but Zhang isn't a big enough name or draw for that, so it's all the risk for nothing.
Zhang needs big backers to really get his hat thrown in that mix.
Not a fan of the heavyweights by any chance but it was a good event of cards. Seems AJ and Ben Davidson is an ideal match up, Ben is usually with technically sound fighters so the fact AJ was more aggressive is definitely a testament to good instructions in the corner imo.
Wilders loss to Fury has seemingly disrupted his progression and identity as a fighter. Whenever a fighter has a certain reputation and it ends up diminished, reintroducing themselves can be difficult. I don't think Deontay has enough in his arsenal to be as dynamic as AJ in facing adversity so maybe he hangs it up, has done well for himself.
If Fury overcomes Usyk it sets up probably the biggest grossing fight in British boxing history. You'd have two guys on the up and it could be undisputed but two things ruin this potential situation. Firstly the rematch clause in the Usyk bout and secondly the high potential for one of Usyks belts to be stripped similar to how Crawford was after fighting Spence because of the time in-between a rematch.
Feels like it's approaching the end of this heavyweight era (next three years).
Wilders loss to Fury has seemingly disrupted his progression and identity as a fighter. Whenever a fighter has a certain reputation and it ends up diminished, reintroducing themselves can be difficult. I don't think Deontay has enough in his arsenal to be as dynamic as AJ in facing adversity so maybe he hangs it up, has done well for himself.
If Fury overcomes Usyk it sets up probably the biggest grossing fight in British boxing history. You'd have two guys on the up and it could be undisputed but two things ruin this potential situation. Firstly the rematch clause in the Usyk bout and secondly the high potential for one of Usyks belts to be stripped similar to how Crawford was after fighting Spence because of the time in-between a rematch.
Feels like it's approaching the end of this heavyweight era (next three years).
I've seen a lot of people saying that AJ gets smoked by Zhang but I think it's an altogher much tougher fight for Zhang.
True, Zhang beat Joyce, but Joyce has always been a hype job, and he was defensively all over the shop and just went toe to toe with a stronger and more technically-correct boxer in Zhang. Joshua is not nearly so limited an opponent.
Joshua would look to tire Zhang rounds 1-8 and then finish him late on. Joshua has genuine power to hurt boxers.
The reason why the fight probably won't happen is on the grounds of reward. Zhang wiped the floor with a limited boxer in Joyce: what credit would AJ get from beating him? It's better for Zhang to take another bout against someone like Dillian Whyte and build up his own profile.
Joshua's lustre has dimmed somewhat but he came up against a generational talent in Usyk and did quite well. He's still a top heavyweight.
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Only because the scoring is fixed. They were both dogshit. Frankly it looks a weak division right now, all the best ones are looking a bit over the hill so if AJ could get back to his best then why shouldn't he be the champ?
Well Dubois lost every single round and then quit to a jab in the 8th iirc so I really don't know what you saw in that one. You must be one of the very few people on earth that think Dubois won that fight. You must be talking about that low blow/knockdown debate in which it was clearly a low blow.
The Fury one was just a shit fight, it was closer than the Dubois one but Fury still won.
And on your point of if Aj is back to his best then why shouldn't he be the champ. I guess that would depend on who wins out of Fury and Usyk, if Usyk wins I really don't want to watch a 3rd fight of Aj getting outboxed for 12 rounds and I assume the majority of the boxing world would feel the same way. Unless he beats Zhang/Hrgovic. Also by beating Zhang/Hrgovic he'll actually prove he's the best of the rest and would be deserving of a rematch.
Remember this guy:
Zhang is too much risk for little reward and is a dangerous opponent. I don't know if AJ gets smoked by Zhang, but there are many constants in Joshua's career and fighting style that make that a fight to avoid unless necessary than there are that say he could take the guy to the cleaners and continue along whatever path he's establishing for himself.
Your points one by one:
- Joshua does not move his head well. He might not be Joyce levels of stiff and stupid (to block punches with his face), but he struggles a lot with getting his head off centre line, which is really bad against fighters who are game and throw good hooks in particular, especially with how Zhang mixes in his left straight either in combinations to initialise or to finish - Joshua is primed to get hit by something in those barrages with his lack of natural movement.
- Zhang has more stamina than Joshua. I think you're suggesting Joshua would wear him down with shots and tire him out that way as opposed to Joshua simply having the bigger tank? Zhang is no slouch in exchanges; Joshua does not do well with getting hit - exchanges are much worse for Joshua than Zhang.
- You've mentioned Joshua's power, but not Zhang's. Zhang hits hard, he hits in bunches and he is more than game to stay in the pocket and bang. In an all out war of that kind, I'd back Zhang because Joshua's punch resistance isn't good (to say the least) and nor is his movement. Pot shotting heavy, cautiously and long is an obvious route to victory for Joshua, not trying to mix it up with a better brawler with a superior tank and punch resistance.
- Zhang is extremely game, so much so, he's exactly the kind of fighter all of those at the top of the division should actively avoid if they are being risk averse. He would go to war with anyone in the division and I don't think he comes up short in a fire fight against anyone - the avenue to beating him is staying safe and outboxing him, which is what would be expected of Fury and Usyk. Joshua? Not so much, as he has much worse head movement, concentration and manoeuvrability than those two.
I'm not saying Zhang beats Joshua, but I would say it's a fight Joshua should avoid because it is wrought with danger for him and he gives Zhang more opportunities to capitalise than Usyk or Fury would. Joshua has nothing to prove vs the likes of Zhang and is well beyond the stage of having to show what he's about. His redemption arc is about looking like his old self before the fella at the top of this post destroyed his confidence, and then pursuing a few mega fights to maximise his earnings and legacy before calling it a day. Zhang can't really do anything to interfere with that path or to interject as there's so few at the top of food chain to chase, and between those top 3, there's tie ups throughout the next 18 months with rematch clauses and whatnot. Joshua probably needs another statement victory like tonight's before he can really start to call out Fury (assuming he wins vs Usyk), which most likely does not involve a risky entanglement with a fighter like Zhang. I'd bet the Saudi's would pay for N'Gannou vs Joshua well before they'd entertain Zhang, too.
If AJ fights Zhang we will see scared AJ once again and he will get bashed up.
They did a very good job making people believe Wallin is a good fighter. It wasn’t long ago everybody was calling him a nobody and a bum when he fought Fury 
He is shit.....but suddenly AJ is flavour of the month again and his price goes up for an all English fight with Fury....such a corrupt sport!They did a very good job making people believe Wallin is a good fighter. It wasn’t long ago everybody was calling him a nobody and a bum when he fought Fury
Well, I'm not surprised in the least in the Wilder fight. He was always going to be out boxed by Parker. It was just a question of if he could land the bomb. The fight showed what I've said for ages, AJ always had a good chance against him. Mainly because AJ can box! He's taller than Parker and could keep Wilder at range. That's why I was bemused when people would say AJ had no chance. Wilder is so so limited. I've seen him out boxed a number of times...but! he has all time great punch that could knock out a elephant.
AJ looked good and sharp. If I'm his team I do everything I can to set up a money fight with Ngannou. Win that and then I would pray to every boxing god that Fury beats Usyk. Then you have, by far, the biggest fight in UK history ready to be made.
Fury-Usyk is a 50/50 fight, though and if Usyk does win I don't see a third match happening between him and AJ.
AJ looked good and sharp. If I'm his team I do everything I can to set up a money fight with Ngannou. Win that and then I would pray to every boxing god that Fury beats Usyk. Then you have, by far, the biggest fight in UK history ready to be made.
Fury-Usyk is a 50/50 fight, though and if Usyk does win I don't see a third match happening between him and AJ.
Away lads, Wilder has done what he wanted.
Performed poorly so Joshua thinks he has a shot, Joshua will agree to fight him now then Wilder will KO Joshua for a nice big payday. Big brains from Wilder.
Performed poorly so Joshua thinks he has a shot, Joshua will agree to fight him now then Wilder will KO Joshua for a nice big payday. Big brains from Wilder.
I think people (me included) thought that Aj would lose to old Wilder, that was probably Wilders worst performance to date. I mean, everyone knows how limited a fighter Wilder is but he was always good at making it a shootout and taking risks. Last night, he fought the last 30 seconds the way he usually fights and it was the only time Parker looked slightly uncomfortable.
Yeah, the ‘real’ Wilder turns every contest into a battle of heart, chin and power and backs himself every time with every bomb he throws and eventually catches his opponent that one time that puts them to sleep, but he looks like he’s lost his edge and appetite for that and is going through the motions now until he hangs them up. This isn’t the Wilder that most had no choice but to fear. He’s 38 now and looked every bit of it last night.