jamesmcdonnell wrote:Riddick Blowe wrote:simonwalsh wrote:
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.
Whyte knew what he was doing in there. He was solid and had some pop and skills. Who's to say Whyte can't mix it with the nondescript 'lower top 10' band of Tepers and Glazkovs? Who's to say they're any better, and why should Joshua taking Whyte 7 rounds be something AJ needs to improve upon?
Joshua would crush Malik Scott tomorrow. Boxrec have Malik fricken Scott in the top 10. That's the division we're dealing with here.
Yeah Whyte was no bozo, he stepped inside of Joshua's range and used the jab well and took the fight to AJ - after that, he gradually got busted up by AJ's jab and power shots, and he gradually became less and less competitive, he then went out on his shield rather than run like a thief.
I'd be interested to see how far Whyte could go, if he got in better shape and worked on his all round skillset a bit. He's got a good chin, decent pop, and some good offensive work.
I honestly think that Whyte deserves a lot more credit than he has received so far. I most certainly think he is someone who could mix it with the top 10, maybe the rung below the top fighters. He's shown he can take a heavy punch whilst dishing out a few of his own. His technique is a bit ragged and does look a little uncoordinated and unbalanced, but let's remind ourselves this guy is still young and in the early stages of his career too (16-1-0). He didn't need to take that fight against Joshua (and probably shouldn't have) but showed a lot of heart to take it.
That fight was very emotionally charged, and you have to take what happened with a pinch of salt. AJ had the red mist and turned it into a brawl which played into Whyte's hands. It took him until the third round to get behind his jab, and start boxing properly. You have to imagine that he'd cope a bit better against someone he doesn't have the history with. AJ doesn't look like the kind of person who gets dragged into trash talking, but obviously shown vulnerability against Whyte, but maybe that is something he needs to learn.
I think he's doing the right things and is more than qualified to take on better boxers in the division. The question is, what makes the top boxers think they have what it takes to take on AJ? Wilder has just knocked more bums out than AJ, does that qualify him? I mean how many genuine boxers are in the circuit that can hold a world title? Even Joseph Parker has only fought bums so far (took Parker 7 rounds to get through an ageing Brian Minto, whilst Whyte blew him away in 3). AJ will continue his progress, and there has been no suggestion by his management that he'll be rushed into the wrong fight. But if AJ fought Fury/Wilder in 2017, I wouldn't be concerned about AJ, expect him to come through with flying colours.
