How Far Are You On The AJ Train?

[Bard of Boxrec]

Joshua will never beat Fury.

That said there is more than one version of a world title and if Frank Bruno could pick one up (eventually) I'm sure Joshua can.

I predict he will become a world champion at some point but he won't become best in the division.

Is it because you placed Wlad on such a pedestal that your logical conclusion is that Fury must be awesome too? Did you pick Fury to beat Wlad? What would you have said before the Wlad fight about this matchup? Did the Wlad fight make that much difference to folks' opinions of how Fury does vs Joshua?

Do you really think Fury can handle the barrage he will undoubtedly be faced with should he collide with Joshua? Do you honestly think he is that astute in there or has the chin to withstand the pressure? Have you even seen the Cunningham or Pajkic fights? The McDonut fight? The second round of Fury/Chisora I?
Just curious.

All of which, Fury came out the winner

No, you're right. Fury winning them means there were no clues at all in those fights that Joshua might pose a small problem for Fury.

[Rexob]

Is it because you placed Wlad on such a pedestal that your logical conclusion is that Fury must be awesome too? Did you pick Fury to beat Wlad? What would you have said before the Wlad fight about this matchup? Did the Wlad fight make that much difference to folks' opinions of how Fury does vs Joshua?

Do you really think Fury can handle the barrage he will undoubtedly be faced with should he collide with Joshua? Do you honestly think he is that astute in there or has the chin to withstand the pressure? Have you even seen the Cunningham or Pajkic fights? The McDonut fight? The second round of Fury/Chisora I?
Just curious.

All of which, Fury came out the winner

No, you're right. Fury winning them means there were no clues at all in those fights that Joshua might pose a small problem for Fury.

To be fair Joshua is a power house but struggled to get rid of Whyte who is nowhere near Fury's level so we will see.

[Bard of Boxrec]

No problem mate.

I watched the second Chisora fight and a lot of people criticised Chisora's performance at the time but during that fight I saw a completely different Fury to the one that fought Cunningham and before. Fury previously liked to fight but when that made him vulnerable. Against Chisora (second time) Fury was different. He took no chances at all, stuck to a game plan of boxing on the outside, used quality movement to evade Chisora's (limited) attack and showed a level of quality of boxing i hadn't seen from him before - (perhaps because everything he did was controlled).

The Hammer fight showed me the same sort of thing. Neither Chisora nor Hammer really managed to land a glove on Fury.

I thought and said before the Wlad fight that Fury would cause Wladimir problems and I could see him outboxing Wlad at times. However, such is Klitschko's experience and pedigree I thought at some point he'd land on Fury and it'd be lights out. That never happened. When Wlad did land a right hand Fury took it. Maybe that's because he hadn't knackered himself out "fighting" in earlier rounds??

That's three fights in a row where Fury's opponents have barely landed a blow. It's not all co-incidences or all opponents under - performing.

The trouble is people form opinions in their head following events years ago and they find it very hard to get rid of those ideas.

I see Fury keeping the fight at range and just popping Joshua off. Joshua doesn't have the upper body movement or the hand speed to give Fury problems. He's another one I see barely landing a blow. IF he does land flush he has a chance against anyone in history, he can bang but Fury took Klitschko's right hand. I doubt Joshua hits any harder than that.

The problem is, Chisora and Hammer weren't very good. Wlad wasn't either. He didn't throw anything. I don't remember this 'right hand' that Klit landed, but if he did, Wlad was so petrified he probably wasn't committing to it. Joshua commits to everything, and he has volume to boot. The idea that he 'wouldn't land a blow' is preposterous. Fury is not difficult to find for someone with a serious offensive arsenal, despite your conviction that opponents like Hammer and Chisora teach us important things about how he can perform.

[Ian1973]

People need to get over judging Fury on the Cunningham fight (and a couple of earlier others). That is the same as judging Klitschko on the Sanders / Purity fights or judging Mayweather on the first Castillo fight.

[Ian1973]

No problem mate.

I watched the second Chisora fight and a lot of people criticised Chisora's performance at the time but during that fight I saw a completely different Fury to the one that fought Cunningham and before. Fury previously liked to fight but when that made him vulnerable. Against Chisora (second time) Fury was different. He took no chances at all, stuck to a game plan of boxing on the outside, used quality movement to evade Chisora's (limited) attack and showed a level of quality of boxing i hadn't seen from him before - (perhaps because everything he did was controlled).

The Hammer fight showed me the same sort of thing. Neither Chisora nor Hammer really managed to land a glove on Fury.

I thought and said before the Wlad fight that Fury would cause Wladimir problems and I could see him outboxing Wlad at times. However, such is Klitschko's experience and pedigree I thought at some point he'd land on Fury and it'd be lights out. That never happened. When Wlad did land a right hand Fury took it. Maybe that's because he hadn't knackered himself out "fighting" in earlier rounds??

That's three fights in a row where Fury's opponents have barely landed a blow. It's not all co-incidences or all opponents under - performing.

The trouble is people form opinions in their head following events years ago and they find it very hard to get rid of those ideas.

I see Fury keeping the fight at range and just popping Joshua off. Joshua doesn't have the upper body movement or the hand speed to give Fury problems. He's another one I see barely landing a blow. IF he does land flush he has a chance against anyone in history, he can bang but Fury took Klitschko's right hand. I doubt Joshua hits any harder than that.

The problem is, Chisora and Hammer weren't very good. Wlad wasn't either. He didn't throw anything. I don't remember this 'right hand' that Klit landed, but if he did, Wlad was so petrified he probably wasn't committing to it. Joshua commits to everything, and he has volume to boot. The idea that he 'wouldn't land a blow' is preposterous. Fury is not difficult to find, despite your conviction that opponents like Hammer and Chisora teach us important things about how he can perform.

The Fury of NOW is very difficult to land against.

When the opponents all look poor is generally because they are made to. If boxers could throw they would, they don't deliberately choose not to throw punches.

[Rexob]

No problem mate.

I watched the second Chisora fight and a lot of people criticised Chisora's performance at the time but during that fight I saw a completely different Fury to the one that fought Cunningham and before. Fury previously liked to fight but when that made him vulnerable. Against Chisora (second time) Fury was different. He took no chances at all, stuck to a game plan of boxing on the outside, used quality movement to evade Chisora's (limited) attack and showed a level of quality of boxing i hadn't seen from him before - (perhaps because everything he did was controlled).

The Hammer fight showed me the same sort of thing. Neither Chisora nor Hammer really managed to land a glove on Fury.

I thought and said before the Wlad fight that Fury would cause Wladimir problems and I could see him outboxing Wlad at times. However, such is Klitschko's experience and pedigree I thought at some point he'd land on Fury and it'd be lights out. That never happened. When Wlad did land a right hand Fury took it. Maybe that's because he hadn't knackered himself out "fighting" in earlier rounds??

That's three fights in a row where Fury's opponents have barely landed a blow. It's not all co-incidences or all opponents under - performing.

The trouble is people form opinions in their head following events years ago and they find it very hard to get rid of those ideas.

I see Fury keeping the fight at range and just popping Joshua off. Joshua doesn't have the upper body movement or the hand speed to give Fury problems. He's another one I see barely landing a blow. IF he does land flush he has a chance against anyone in history, he can bang but Fury took Klitschko's right hand. I doubt Joshua hits any harder than that.

The problem is, Chisora and Hammer weren't very good. Wlad wasn't either. He didn't throw anything. I don't remember this 'right hand' that Klit landed, but if he did, Wlad was so petrified he probably wasn't committing to it. Joshua commits to everything, and he has volume to boot. The idea that he 'wouldn't land a blow' is preposterous. Fury is not difficult to find, despite your conviction that opponents like Hammer and Chisora teach us important things about how he can perform.

The Fury of NOW is very difficult to land against.

When the opponents all look poor is generally because they are made to. If boxers could throw they would, they don't deliberately choose not to throw punches.

Exactly.

[Bard of Boxrec]

People need to get over judging Fury on the Cunningham fight (and a couple of earlier others). That is the same as judging Klitschko on the Sanders / Purity fights or judging Mayweather on the first Castillo fight.

yet you are so keen on judging Joshua on his seven seconds of disorganisation in the Whyte fight.

Also, the Cunningham fight was about four fights ago! Since then he's fought Joey Abell, a shop-worn Chisora, and Christian Hammer, and a Bodymax bag. A murderer's row, and such an amazing platform for comprehensive fistic development.

[Rexob]

People need to get over judging Fury on the Cunningham fight (and a couple of earlier others). That is the same as judging Klitschko on the Sanders / Purity fights or judging Mayweather on the first Castillo fight.

yet you are so keen on judging Joshua on his seven seconds of disorganisation in the Whyte fight.

Also, the Cunningham fight was about four fights ago! Since then he's fought Joey Abell, a shop-worn Chisora, and Christian Hammer, and a Bodymax bag. A murderer's row, and such an amazing platform for comprehensive fistic development.

The difference now is Fury is fighting to instruction, plus developing into a experienced pro he will be hard to beat.

[jamesmcdonnell]

No problem mate.

I watched the second Chisora fight and a lot of people criticised Chisora's performance at the time but during that fight I saw a completely different Fury to the one that fought Cunningham and before. Fury previously liked to fight but when that made him vulnerable. Against Chisora (second time) Fury was different. He took no chances at all, stuck to a game plan of boxing on the outside, used quality movement to evade Chisora's (limited) attack and showed a level of quality of boxing i hadn't seen from him before - (perhaps because everything he did was controlled).

The Hammer fight showed me the same sort of thing. Neither Chisora nor Hammer really managed to land a glove on Fury.

I thought and said before the Wlad fight that Fury would cause Wladimir problems and I could see him outboxing Wlad at times. However, such is Klitschko's experience and pedigree I thought at some point he'd land on Fury and it'd be lights out. That never happened. When Wlad did land a right hand Fury took it. Maybe that's because he hadn't knackered himself out "fighting" in earlier rounds??

That's three fights in a row where Fury's opponents have barely landed a blow. It's not all co-incidences or all opponents under - performing.

The trouble is people form opinions in their head following events years ago and they find it very hard to get rid of those ideas.

I see Fury keeping the fight at range and just popping Joshua off. Joshua doesn't have the upper body movement or the hand speed to give Fury problems. He's another one I see barely landing a blow. IF he does land flush he has a chance against anyone in history, he can bang but Fury took Klitschko's right hand. I doubt Joshua hits any harder than that.

The problem is, Chisora and Hammer weren't very good. Wlad wasn't either. He didn't throw anything. I don't remember this 'right hand' that Klit landed, but if he did, Wlad was so petrified he probably wasn't committing to it. Joshua commits to everything, and he has volume to boot. The idea that he 'wouldn't land a blow' is preposterous. Fury is not difficult to find for someone with a serious offensive arsenal, despite your conviction that opponents like Hammer and Chisora teach us important things about how he can perform.

In fairness to Fury, he made Wlad tentative in a way nobody else was able to - however I agree that Joshua isn't going to stand like a big statue just staring at Fury as he skates around the ring like a gnu on roller blades. He looked elusive against Wlad, because Wlad is so stiff and one-paced, Joshua, for all his lumbering physique, is far more fluid, committed and aggressive.

[Tuan_Jim]

Is it because you placed Wlad on such a pedestal that your logical conclusion is that Fury must be awesome too? Did you pick Fury to beat Wlad? What would you have said before the Wlad fight about this matchup? Did the Wlad fight make that much difference to folks' opinions of how Fury does vs Joshua?

Do you really think Fury can handle the barrage he will undoubtedly be faced with should he collide with Joshua? Do you honestly think he is that astute in there or has the chin to withstand the pressure? Have you even seen the Cunningham or Pajkic fights? The McDonut fight? The second round of Fury/Chisora I?
Just curious.

All of which, Fury came out the winner

No, you're right. Fury winning them means there were no clues at all in those fights that Joshua might pose a small problem for Fury.

I love the logic he's employing. Fury survived those guys, therefore he will survive all onslaughts!

Exactly the same as the posters here years ago who thought because Khan survived Limond and Gomez he would always be able to come off the floor and win.

It's a short sighted analysis and anyone who shares it must be dismissed from a sensible conversation.

[Ian1973]

People need to get over judging Fury on the Cunningham fight (and a couple of earlier others). That is the same as judging Klitschko on the Sanders / Purity fights or judging Mayweather on the first Castillo fight.

yet you are so keen on judging Joshua on his seven seconds of disorganisation in the Whyte fight.

Also, the Cunningham fight was about four fights ago! Since then he's fought Joey Abell, a shop-worn Chisora, and Christian Hammer, and a Bodymax bag. A murderer's row, and such an amazing platform for comprehensive fistic development.

Joshua doesn't have the body or the attributes to box like Fury. Even if he muscles down his natural strengths are different to someone like Fury's. I'm not judging Joshua on that fight more on his make up and the skills / deficiencies he possesses.

Joshua will always have more KO's than Fury and will have a bigger following because he will always be in more exciting fights. If they fight though the extra quality will come from Fury. Quality isn't all about throwing punches or hitting hardest.

Watch the Fury v Wlad fight again. Fury is never still especially in the early rounds. He's moving in and out, he's moving side to side, he's taking a half step back, all the time keeping Wlad at bay seemingly by doing nothing. That's why wlad couldn't get his shots off. The movement from Fury was absolutely outstanding.

[Bard of Boxrec]

The Fury of NOW is very difficult to land against.

When the opponents all look poor is generally because they are made to. If boxers could throw they would, they don't deliberately choose not to throw punches.

Wlad's been throwing little against sub-standard foes for a long time.

In addition to this, Fury was standing there at many times with his hands variously:

-draped on the ropes
-behind his back
-waving in the air

For sustained periods. The Bodymax bag in front of him was unimpressed, but remained stoically unmoved to throw punches. Wlad had many, many chances to throw shots in that fight. He didn't. Wlad was terrible, and it mostly wasn't because of Fury doing anything outstanding. Most agreed.

[Ian1973]

The Fury of NOW is very difficult to land against.

When the opponents all look poor is generally because they are made to. If boxers could throw they would, they don't deliberately choose not to throw punches.

Wlad's been throwing little against sub-standard foes for a long time.

In addition to this, Fury was standing there at many times with his hands variously:

-draped on the ropes
-behind his back
-waving in the air

For sustained periods. The Bodymax bag in front of him was unimpressed, but remained stoically unmoved to throw punches. Wlad had many, many chances to throw shots in that fight. He didn't. Wlad was terrible, and it wasn't because of Fury. Most agreed.

All out of range. Some of the moves are very subtle but they are effective. Golovkin vs Lemieux judged the range perfectly in an offensive manner, fury did the same to Wlad in a defensive manner.

[Rexob]

People need to get over judging Fury on the Cunningham fight (and a couple of earlier others). That is the same as judging Klitschko on the Sanders / Purity fights or judging Mayweather on the first Castillo fight.

yet you are so keen on judging Joshua on his seven seconds of disorganisation in the Whyte fight.

Also, the Cunningham fight was about four fights ago! Since then he's fought Joey Abell, a shop-worn Chisora, and Christian Hammer, and a Bodymax bag. A murderer's row, and such an amazing platform for comprehensive fistic development.

Joshua doesn't have the body or the attributes to box like Fury. Even if he muscles down his natural strengths are different to someone like Fury's. I'm not judging Joshua on that fight more on his make up and the skills / deficiencies he possesses.

Joshua will always have more KO's than Fury and will have a bigger following because he will always be in more exciting fights. If they fight though the extra quality will come from Fury. Quality isn't all about throwing punches or hitting hardest.

Watch the Fury v Wlad fight again. Fury is never still especially in the early rounds. He's moving in and out, he's moving side to side, he's taking a half step back, all the time keeping Wlad at bay seemingly by doing nothing. That's why wlad couldn't get his shots off. The movement from Fury was absolutely outstanding.

Spot on.

[Batley18]

People definitely need to start giving Fury a lot more praise for his performance. I was so impressed with how slippery he looked, moving that head non stop. I would have been surprised if the stats showed Klit throwing single figure right hands in a round, let alone a whole fight. That was testament to the work that Fury did, a lot of which much have been some serious conditioning work. He has always looked a little overweight at times, mainly because he wears his shorts up to his nipples, but he looked in great shape for this fight.

Regarding AJ, I am definitely on board the train. One minor wobble against a hard punch will not derail that. He dealt with it pretty well, didn't take many clean punches after it, and got the job done a few rounds later. This fight may possibly be the most emotional that he has due to the history they had. I watched the fight again last night, and I honestly think AJ could have finished him off in the first, but wanted to let it last longer so he could inflict a bit more pain. That was stupid and naive, but it won't happen again.

[tobyh5]

yet you are so keen on judging Joshua on his seven seconds of disorganisation in the Whyte fight.

Oh come on mate, it was more than that. He was affected by what happened in the second round for at least the next round and a half and even his team said so in the post fight presser. He came back well, I am not getting into that discussion but I cannot listen to this stuff that it was a momentary stumble. Yes the stumbling did not last long, the after effect was much more and that is the concern - how vulnerable he was for a good while after taking a shot.

[Bard of Boxrec]

Watch the Fury v Wlad fight again. Fury is never still especially in the early rounds. He's moving in and out, he's moving side to side, he's taking a half step back, all the time keeping Wlad at bay seemingly by doing nothing. That's why wlad couldn't get his shots off. The movement from Fury was absolutely outstanding.

So do you honestly think that Fury is going to lower Joshua's output to the extent that Joshua is just going to stand there throwing nothing like Bodymax Wlad?

Fury was able to look all nice with his movement because there was nothing coming back. You think Wlad's volume problem was directly because of Fury's subtle moves. I believe it was because of the low-output stiff robot across from him who has always been terrified to commit without the chance of a good old cuddle immediately afterwards. Maybe I can concede that it might have been a teensy bit of both. What's for sure is that Joshua will take the fight to Fury in a vicious manner because he has clear offensive tools to get the job done. History has shown that Fury's chin has troubles with such onslaught.

[nitro5912]

Joshua will throw far more punches than wlad did.

Fury had nothing to lose going in there that night in dussledorf. He executed a good gameplan but it wasn't really that skilful it was very similar to haye v valuev, dive in hit get out run away from the power punches. He didn't dominate wlad like many are now saying it was. it was the perfect game plan to beat wlad, who moves in straight lines and only throws a handful of punches 1/2/left hook. haye tried this tactic but couldn't pull it off because he was too small.But people have been saying it for long enough that is how you beat wlad of now.

We will only see how good fury is when he is facing someone who will try to cut the ring off and not just forward in straight lines whilst actually throwing. will he continue to run or will he try to establish himself as the stronger man?

AJ is still for me 18months to 24months away from fighting for a world title. he still needs to go down the distance

[simonwalsh]

I'm on the train, but also realistic. He can't afford to move backwards now. Whyte put up more of a test than I thought he could. Fury, Wilder, Haye etc are all way ahead of AJ at the moment, but he really needs to start mixing with the B-Level on a regular basis in order to get in that conversation.

[jamesmcdonnell]

I'm on the train, but also realistic. He can't afford to move backwards now. Whyte put up more of a test than I thought he could. Fury, Wilder, Haye etc are all way ahead of AJ at the moment, but he really needs to start mixing with the B-Level on a regular basis in order to get in that conversation.

Not sure they are THAT far ahead. Right now, I'd favour Haye, perhaps, if he looks good in 1 or 2 tune ups, but I've no doubt that if Joshua landed flush, he'd hurt Haye, and if hurt him, he'd finish him. Of course Haye might land and might take Joshua out, but for all Haye's experience, Joshua is by far the more natural heavyweight of the two.

Wilder, well, he's really seemed to avoid punchers like the plague, which makes me think his management know he doesn't carry a shot well.

I think Joshua is already a handful for ANYONE out there at heavy, sure, his inexperience might mean he loses a fight he would win in 18 months, but his assets make him a major threat, especially now we've seen he has the toughness to survive the rough patches.

[simonwalsh]

I'm on the train, but also realistic. He can't afford to move backwards now. Whyte put up more of a test than I thought he could. Fury, Wilder, Haye etc are all way ahead of AJ at the moment, but he really needs to start mixing with the B-Level on a regular basis in order to get in that conversation.

Not sure they are THAT far ahead. Right now, I'd favour Haye, perhaps, if he looks good in 1 or 2 tune ups, but I've no doubt that if Joshua landed flush, he'd hurt Haye, and if hurt him, he'd finish him. Of course Haye might land and might take Joshua out, but for all Haye's experience, Joshua is by far the more natural heavyweight of the two.

Wilder, well, he's really seemed to avoid punchers like the plague, which makes me think his management know he doesn't carry a shot well.

I think Joshua is already a handful for ANYONE out there at heavy, sure, his inexperience might mean he loses a fight he would win in 18 months, but his assets make him a major threat, especially now we've seen he has the toughness to survive the rough patches.

I don't think any of those would walk over or dominate AJ. He'd certainly cause some problems, but I think given a couple of rounds wobble with Whyte, he needs to keep learning before being in the conversation with those sorts of names. He's done the C/D level fights now. He could fight any of those types in his sleep. I think he needs to start handling the Dillian Whytes of the world a bit better or with more ease to put him in top level conversation.

For me anyway. I just don't think there's any need to rush him at all. I'm sure he'll beat some random with a bloated record in April before targeting Haye in the summer.

[Tuan_Jim]

Wilder remember reacted to a hook from Eric Molina as if he had put a wet finger in a live socket. He is an utter calamity in waiting. Honestly, with Fury, Joshua and Wilder we're in a bigger they are, the more fragile they become heavyweight 'elite'.

[jamesmcdonnell]

I'm on the train, but also realistic. He can't afford to move backwards now. Whyte put up more of a test than I thought he could. Fury, Wilder, Haye etc are all way ahead of AJ at the moment, but he really needs to start mixing with the B-Level on a regular basis in order to get in that conversation.

Not sure they are THAT far ahead. Right now, I'd favour Haye, perhaps, if he looks good in 1 or 2 tune ups, but I've no doubt that if Joshua landed flush, he'd hurt Haye, and if hurt him, he'd finish him. Of course Haye might land and might take Joshua out, but for all Haye's experience, Joshua is by far the more natural heavyweight of the two.

Wilder, well, he's really seemed to avoid punchers like the plague, which makes me think his management know he doesn't carry a shot well.

I think Joshua is already a handful for ANYONE out there at heavy, sure, his inexperience might mean he loses a fight he would win in 18 months, but his assets make him a major threat, especially now we've seen he has the toughness to survive the rough patches.

I don't think any of those would walk over or dominate AJ. He'd certainly cause some problems, but I think given a couple of rounds wobble with Whyte, he needs to keep learning before being in the conversation with those sorts of names. He's done the C/D level fights now. He could fight any of those types in his sleep. I think he needs to start handling the Dillian Whytes of the world a bit better or with more ease to put him in top level conversation.

For me anyway. I just don't think there's any need to rush him at all. I'm sure he'll beat some random with a bloated record in April before targeting Haye in the summer.

Totally agree, no sense in rushing him to a title shot when he will be much better in 18 months, but I think the gulf is already quite small..

He needs to fight someone really durable, there aren't so many of those around these days. Either that or someone with a very good defence who isn't ancient.

[Bard of Boxrec]

Not sure they are THAT far ahead.

there does seem to be this weird overestimation of the quality of the heavyweight division. Folk still actually believe the old 'linear improvement model' actually happens. Whereas in reality it's more, fight a ton of bums, tread water, maybe then a fringe contender, title shot. For pretty much everyone in recent years.

With this in mind you have to ask, when people are saying 'Joshua isn't ready' are they really just saying he needs a diet of 2 years of bums before he fights Fury? Because that's the model for heavyweight contenders these days.

The bottom line is this division is SHALLOW and Joshua can be thrown in with anyone at all right now. I'd pick him over the likes of Pulev any day. What 'top level experience' do these guys actually have that would realistically prepare them for Joshua? Most of them are bums. Teper? Browne? Fat slobs. Thankfully this level are going to get wiped out by the Joshuas, Wilders and Parkers soon to emerge.

[simonwalsh]

Not sure they are THAT far ahead.

there does seem to be this weird overestimation of the quality of the heavyweight division. Folk still actually believe the old 'linear improvement model' actually happens. Whereas in reality it's more, fight a ton of bums, tread water, maybe then a fringe contender, title shot. For pretty much everyone in recent years.

With this in mind you have to ask, when people are saying 'Joshua isn't ready' are they really just saying he needs a diet of 2 years of bums before he fights Fury? Because that's the model for heavyweight contenders these days.

The bottom line is this division is SHALLOW and Joshua can be thrown in with anyone at all right now. I'd pick him over the likes of Pulev any day. What 'top level experience' do these guys actually have that would realistically prepare them for Joshua? Most of them are bums. Teper? Browne? Fat slobs. Thankfully this level are going to get wiped out by the Joshuas, Wilders and Parker soon to emerge.

Thing is, Joshua has fought bums so far (Whyte excluded, though it's debatable). Given he wobbled a little with Whyte, for me he needs to be able to get through the likes of those with ease before moving up. If that takes three fights, if it takes ten fights, whatever it takes to get undoubtedly ready for the top level.

AJ's got a very real chance of being a dominant force in the division for years and years to come. There's no point whatsoever in him now getting opponents outside say the consensus Top 25. For me though a few fights against those 15-25, handle them with ease, then we'll talk world titles.