Is Anthony Joshua the next Frank Bruno?

[Mimmy]

Could this be the guy to lift British heavyweight boxing. I think even at this early stage people are going to compare him to Frank Bruno and love the guy. Never heard of him before but this guy is going to generate public interest when he turns pro.

This guy will not be the next 'fraudley'

[stujones]

Lets not forget, people originally loves Audley. He packed the arena for his debut and left it with great applause. Things started to go wrong when he fought with the fro against Dereck McAffertey.

Joshua certainly resembles Bruno in terms of physique and approach to the fight. He doesn't have the Bruno jab, but he doesn't "fence" like Audley.

[Hagler2002]

We already have the next "guy to lift British heavyweight boxing" in David Price

[IRLangmaid25]

We already have the next "guy to lift British heavyweight boxing" in David Price

I agree with that statement. He has been getting the topline sparring and he has never disgraced himself when he has sparred them, and when he has fought he has always shown continous improvement and does look the real deal.

[loaded_gloves]

David Price? The 30 year old who has only managed 13 fights since the last Olympics and hasn't even managed to fight a live body in all that time?! Mike Tyson had 15 fights in his first year. In his second year live bodies like Ferguson and Tillis were hitting him back, hard.

Price is taking a big step up against a passive, semi-retired 40 year old Audley Harrison FFS. Price is about as likely to capture the public imagination as Tyson Fury is to fight an opponent not in his 40s.

[yiddo14]

Brutal assessment loaded gloves but there is an element of truth there!

Slowly slowly catchy monkey doesn't really apply to boxing!

I think Joshua can go further than both Prive and Fury will. He is still a novice and managed to eclipse both Price and Furys amateur achievements already.

[Scrap]

Joshua, is for Real, 22 and has handled the Pressure, He has been under. Really remarkable.

[loaded_gloves]

Had Joshua officially lost the Savon bout, would any of you be excited over him?

This gold medal is completely manufactured. Sorry to sound negative but he lost two Olympic fights. Two! We should find this insulting to the intelligence but instead many of you are lapping it up. Bizarre.

[freddydoesdallas]

Had Joshua officially lost the Savon bout, would any of you be excited over him?

This gold medal is completely manufactured. Sorry to sound negative but he lost two Olympic fights. Two! We should find this insulting to the intelligence but instead many of you are lapping it up. Bizarre.

Like it or not, people will only talk about the gold. Casual fans will get behind him and they won't give a shit about boxing anoraks saying he should've lost to so and so. He will make a mint for himself and his promoter whilst attracting new fans to the sport

[sendo]

Had Joshua officially lost the Savon bout, would any of you be excited over him?

This gold medal is completely manufactured. Sorry to sound negative but he lost two Olympic fights. Two! We should find this insulting to the intelligence but instead many of you are lapping it up. Bizarre.

Savon fight was close and he won the final for me, only poor scoring in round 2 made it look contentious.

Besides if you want to reverse poor scoring then technically he should have been world champion going into the games.

[Newport Daz]

Yeah, I agree. He got a gift in his first round fight but definitly won the olympic final. The scoring in the 2nd round was very harsh on Joshua and the Italian sleep walked through round 3.

[Hagler2002]

David Price? The 30 year old who has only managed 13 fights since the last Olympics and hasn't even managed to fight a live body in all that time?! Mike Tyson had 15 fights in his first year. In his second year live bodies like Ferguson and Tillis were hitting him back, hard.

Price is taking a big step up against a passive, semi-retired 40 year old Audley Harrison FFS. Price is about as likely to capture the public imagination as Tyson Fury is to fight an opponent not in his 40s.

30 is still relatively young in today's heavyweight division, so at present I'll lump my chips on him been the next best chance we have because I'm certainly not going to say a bloke with no pro experience who hasn't even said he is going to turn pro is the fighter to pin our hopes on.

And as for Ferguson hitting Tyson back "hard" you may want to watch that fight again he barely threw a punch and was hanging on for dear life.

[whiskey]

On one hand I'd like him to go to Rio , on the other I would like him to go professional.

For no other reason than staying amateur could detriment him if he stays too long.

Tough decision.

Let be honest your never going to ever get a springboard to turn pro, than winning a gold in your country , to a tv audience of millions.

[ILikeBeer]

I only saw the Anthony Joshua final, but saw nothing in him that suggested he might be like Frank Bruno. I'm not sure what the comparison means. Do you mean in terms of popularity with the fans? Or do you mean a guy who has a lot of power but sometimes has stamina issues?

To be honest, I was underwhelmed by his performance in the final, and wasn't even sure he was worthy of the draw. I'm not super-hyped by the prospect of him turning pro, but may just be me.

[Darcy Delaney]

On one hand I'd like him to go to Rio , on the other I would like him to go professional.

For no other reason than staying amateur could detriment him if he stays too long.

Tough decision.

Let be honest your never going to ever get a springboard to turn pro, than winning a gold in your country , to a tv audience of millions.

there is no point turning pro yet as he might as well go to the commonwealth games in two years time, he'll be on around £30.000 a year in funding plus sponcership deals that will come his way, he'll always be an olympic champion all he needs to do is get more experiance for when he does turn pro there's no rush, i just hope he does not turn over with a new promoter from the north of england

[gobbles]

Had Joshua officially lost the Savon bout, would any of you be excited over him?

This gold medal is completely manufactured. Sorry to sound negative but he lost two Olympic fights. Two! We should find this insulting to the intelligence but instead many of you are lapping it up. Bizarre.

Savon fight was close and he won the final for me, only poor scoring in round 2 made it look contentious.

Besides if you want to reverse poor scoring then technically he should have been world champion going into the games.

Quite right, he was robbed in Azerbaijan. I didn't think he got a hometown decision in the final. If the judges wanted to do that, he wouldn't have been 3 points down after 2 close rounds, would he?

He's 22. Amazing prospect.

[jtourettes]

David Price? The 30 year old who has only managed 13 fights since the last Olympics and hasn't even managed to fight a live body in all that time?! Mike Tyson had 15 fights in his first year. In his second year live bodies like Ferguson and Tillis were hitting him back, hard.

Price is taking a big step up against a passive, semi-retired 40 year old Audley Harrison FFS. Price is about as likely to capture the public imagination as Tyson Fury is to fight an opponent not in his 40s.

Totally agree.

[funso banjo baby]

only Price looks to have the Bruno one-punch power atm

Joshua could bring some excitement tho

all looking good atm

[Kilburn]

Not sure why I'm reading comparisons between David Price and Mike Tyson, when it's clearly not going to take that kind of momentum to rise to the top of the current crop of heavyweights once K2 have left the scene.

[Quixall]

Forget this Joshua kid, he lost two of his fights in this tournament in my eyes and certainly lost the final. He lacks technique and experience and is no-where near turning professional at this moment in time. He would have all on beating McDermott, never mind a Fury or a Price. Bit of a hype machine in my opinion and i think he will go to the next olympic games in Rio. If he did turn professional, he would have to be fighting out of shape latvian doormen for about four years lol.

[tonyevs]

Don`t shoot me down too quickly here ..

but ..

Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. turned pro with very little amateur experience. And learnt the game as a pro.
Lots of one sided fights. But he was still learning .. now 8yrs on he looks to have learnt pretty good.

Anthony Joshua has a massive headstart in comparison to Chavez ..

So as long as he was kept off TV and on the undercards learning his trade under the radar .. wouldn`t he be a pretty good bet long term?

[davie]

Don`t shoot me down too quickly here ..

but ..

Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. turned pro with very little amateur experience. And learnt the game as a pro.
Lots of one sided fights. But he was still learning .. now 8yrs on he looks to have learnt pretty good.

Anthony Joshua has a massive headstart in comparison to Chavez ..

So as long as he was kept off TV and on the undercards learning his trade under the radar .. wouldn`t he be a pretty good bet long term?

Fair point but not going to happen. he'd only get talked into turning pro to ride the crest of the olympic gold wave.

He has plenty left to learn in the amateurs and will make as much progress there. i'd leave it another 2 years and see where he is.

[Karl Jade]

David Price? The 30 year old who has only managed 13 fights since the last Olympics and hasn't even managed to fight a live body in all that time?! Mike Tyson had 15 fights in his first year. In his second year live bodies like Ferguson and Tillis were hitting him back, hard.

Price is taking a big step up against a passive, semi-retired 40 year old Audley Harrison FFS. Price is about as likely to capture the public imagination as Tyson Fury is to fight an opponent not in his 40s.

Price turned 29 last month. Vitali Klitschko's best win was over a blown up Herbie Hide at that age.

Elements of truth in your post, but overall a pretty harsh conclusion.

[Instantiate]

Had Joshua officially lost the Savon bout, would any of you be excited over him?

This gold medal is completely manufactured. Sorry to sound negative but he lost two Olympic fights. Two! We should find this insulting to the intelligence but instead many of you are lapping it up. Bizarre.

Savon fight was close and he won the final for me, only poor scoring in round 2 made it look contentious.

Besides if you want to reverse poor scoring then technically he should have been world champion going into the games.

Quite right, he was robbed in Azerbaijan. I didn't think he got a hometown decision in the final. If the judges wanted to do that, he wouldn't have been 3 points down after 2 close rounds, would he?

He's 22. Amazing prospect.

I disagree that he was "robbed" in Azerbaijan. I scored the bout 26-26 and thought it could've fairly gone either way given the margin of error in determining punches landed. I can't find my per round statistics, but I know that I scored the first for Joshua, the second for Majidov by a comparable margin, and the third very close.

I can't comment on his Olympic bouts, as I haven't seen them.

[Craig14]

I only saw the Anthony Joshua final, but saw nothing in him that suggested he might be like Frank Bruno. I'm not sure what the comparison means. Do you mean in terms of popularity with the fans? Or do you mean a guy who has a lot of power but sometimes has stamina issues?

To be honest, I was underwhelmed by his performance in the final, and wasn't even sure he was worthy of the draw. I'm not super-hyped by the prospect of him turning pro, but may just be me.

He reminded me completly of Frank Bruno. That same plodding forward movement and looking too stiff because of his huge upperbody. For the record I thought he won the final as well.