Hughie Fury vs. Anthony Joshua

[BitPlayer]

Why don't we see if he's fighting better opponents. The belt he has is so paper thin it's not much better than the belt Hughie just won, and given he fought someone many argue beat AJ's next opponent, it's not that unlikely. The current IBF "World" heavyweight title is a joke born from boxing politics, dumb rankings, and an injured knee. Belts that paper only come around once every 100 years.

Liam Smith's title is not any better.

Yeah I know that aren't as uncommon as I made out, sadly, I was using hyperbole for comedic effect.

[Horse]

Yeah I know that aren't as uncommon as I made out, sadly, I was using hyperbole for comedic effect.

Fortunately it is still very uncommon to have champions as poor as Liam Smith and Anthony Joshua.

Are there any other champions as lacking in credibility as those two right now?

[BitPlayer]

Yeah I know that aren't as uncommon as I made out, sadly, I was using hyperbole for comedic effect.

Fortunately it is still very uncommon to have champions as poor as Liam Smith and Anthony Joshua.

Are there any other champions as lacking in credibility as those two right now?

I've heard some of the minimumweight champs are pretty bad, but that's such a shallow division.
http://boxrec.com/boxer/666339

[Lennox]

Yeah I know that aren't as uncommon as I made out, sadly, I was using hyperbole for comedic effect.

Fortunately it is still very uncommon to have champions as poor as Liam Smith and Anthony Joshua.

Are there any other champions as lacking in credibility as those two right now?

I've heard some of the minimumweight champs are pretty bad, but that's such a shallow division.
http://boxrec.com/boxer/666339

He is actually very good.

Re: Hughie Fury, I can't see anything in him to suggest he will be a world champion, the most positive thing I could say is he is only 21 so he could get a lot better.

Re: Anthony Joshua, a lot of people think he is the best heavyweight on the planet now.

WBA regular or interim champions are often ranked outside the top 30. Some have never fought a top 100 opponent despite being champion.

[Horse]

I've heard some of the minimumweight champs are pretty bad, but that's such a shallow division.
http://boxrec.com/boxer/666339

The minimumweight division is generally terrible, so all of the ABC champions cannot be expected to have much credibility, as there is very little credibility to share around in the first place.

[Horse]

Re: Anthony Joshua, a lot of people think he is the best heavyweight on the planet now.

They are wrong.

[keithmoonhangover]

Re: Anthony Joshua, a lot of people think he is the best heavyweight on the planet now.

They are wrong.

OT, but are you picking Fury in the Wlad rematch Horse?

[BitPlayer]

Fortunately it is still very uncommon to have champions as poor as Liam Smith and Anthony Joshua.

Are there any other champions as lacking in credibility as those two right now?

I've heard some of the minimumweight champs are pretty bad, but that's such a shallow division.
http://boxrec.com/boxer/666339

He is actually very good.

But being champ isn't about how good you are, it's about who you've beat.

[Ian1973]

Re: Anthony Joshua, a lot of people think he is the best heavyweight on the planet now.

They are wrong.

Correct.

[Boxerbeetle]

What's with this guy and sucking up to Anthony Joshua?

I like Joshua for the same reason I like Golovkin - he wins his fights impressively and in a dominant way.

Fury ran and pitty-patted Kevin Johnson for a dull decision, but Joshua he took him out early.

"That's what heavyweights are supposed to do" - Jim Lampley

Utter garbage from mister Lampley, that like saying the aim of football (soccer) is to score goal so team should have 4 strikers and aim to win 5-3 else they aren't playing the game properly. It's boxing, the sweet science, hit and not get hit, not a game of punch for punch.

And, to play devil's advocate, who learned more in their fight with Johnson? Maybe it would have done Joshua some good to see if he could do 12 rounds rather than blowing Johnson out.

(Although that fight was basically set-up purely to showcase AJ's power against someone who was sold as being 'unstoppable' )

[BitPlayer]

I like Joshua for the same reason I like Golovkin - he wins his fights impressively and in a dominant way.

Fury ran and pitty-patted Kevin Johnson for a dull decision, but Joshua he took him out early.

"That's what heavyweights are supposed to do" - Jim Lampley

Utter garbage from mister Lampley, that like saying the aim of football (soccer) is to score goal so team should have 4 strikers and aim to win 5-3 else they aren't playing the game properly. It's boxing, the sweet science, hit and not get hit, not a game of punch for punch.

And, to play devil's advocate, who learned more in their fight with Johnson? Maybe it would have done Joshua some good to see if he could do 12 rounds rather than blowing Johnson out.

(Although that fight was basically set-up purely to showcase AJ's power against someone who was sold as being 'unstoppable' )

It also, like it did with Tyson, would've showed a wider skill set. That's what made Tyson's performance impressive, he showed good defence, and much more composure. But the Johnson he fought wasn't half as shot, he'd fought recently, and had recent win. Since then he won his next fight and until fighting Joshua lost to CHristian Hammer, Chisora, and Charr, two of which fought Fury and were a total mismatch. He was then inactive for a year. Whereas when Fury fought him he had won a 12 rounder that year and two 3 rounders, before losing one 3 rounder.

[lckov]

He was able to handle a difficult opponent in Fred Kassi with relative ease which is more than you can say for some fringe world contenders. For that reason, he deserves credit.

I feel a heavyweight without big knock out power will always struggle but his style is awkward enough to cause problems for a lot of top boxers. I think at 21 you can take your time with him but in 18 months time he needs to be looking at pushing up to world level. A fight against David Price, Robert Hellenius, Kevin Johnson or Tony Thompson could be an option soon I suppose.

[BitPlayer]

He was able to handle a difficult opponent in Fred Kassi with relative ease which is more than you can say for some fringe world contenders. For that reason, he deserves credit.

I feel a heavyweight without big knock out power will always struggle but his style is awkward enough to cause problems for a lot of top boxers. I think at 21 you can take your time with him but in 18 months time he needs to be looking at pushing up to world level. A fight against David Price, Robert Hellenius, Kevin Johnson or Tony Thompson could be an option soon I suppose.

Kevin Johson has retired.

[rockyefc]

Hughie would easily beat the so called 'WBA Heavyweight World Champion' Lucas Browne, he would box his ears off...

[crusader]

I wouldn't be surprised if he beat Browne.

[BitPlayer]

Hughie would easily beat the so called 'WBA Heavyweight World Champion' Lucas Browne, he would box his ears off...

Whether or not he's as good as Joshua, Browne did a lot more to earn his title, and he certainly deserves a good deal of respect, no matter how good he really is, he said himself he knows he is not the most talented.

[crusader]

I think Joshua has a better resume than Browne. The hard fought nature of Browne's paper title win can give the impression that he did more to earn it, but I think that's largely a product of his own limitations. I'll give him credit for going into scary territory to win though.

[BitPlayer]

But Browne took on a total home fighter in their country, Joshua was a total home fighter. Plus Chagaev was far better than Martin. Like I said, I'm not saying he's better, just had to put a lot more in to become a "champ", and to me deserves quite a bit of respect, and I think he's closer to being a real champ.

Martin in your home soil is a vastly easier fight than Chagaev in Chechnya.

[crusader]

I get what you're saying, but to me they're both paper champions and AJ has the superior resume of the two.

Chagaev is fairly past it and while he may be better than Martin I don't know if it's even by that much these days. Let's not forget that he barely beat 41 year old Fres Oquendo a couple fights ago.

[BitPlayer]

DO you think Martin could beat Chagaev?

[crusader]

Yes

Chagaev is quite faded.

[PredatorHayds]

Hughie doesn't seem to be improving as quickly as I'd hoped.
I think his medical condition seems to be effecting his muscle growth.
Hopefully he will slowly develop his man strength as he will need more pop in his punches when he gets into top 20 territory.
He uses his height and reach very well which will make him hard to beat up to a certain level.

[jamesmcdonnell]

Hughie doesn't seem to be improving as quickly as I'd hoped.
I think his medical condition seems to be effecting his muscle growth.
Hopefully he will slowly develop his man strength as he will need more pop in his punches when he gets into top 20 territory.
He uses his height and reach very well which will make him hard to beat up to a certain level.

What is his medical condition?

[BitPlayer]

I think he has more than one, a lot of issues with allergies, there's his ance. I don't know the details but I've heard there's an issue with his copper levels.
Edit: SOunds like this https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilson%27s_disease

[Oiky]

hughie is fundamentally a far better boxer than AJ

people giving hughie to much stick over an off-night vs kassi.

plus hughie has time enough to develop

plenty of time to grow into his power and i believe he has enough tools to beat AJ in due time