A. Josh is the best heavyweight ever

[Jip]

Before u guys get on me. Techniquly in a p4p sense prime ali and prime tyson over any heavyweight ever!

But heavyweight is a special division. It has no weight limit. Thats why aj is the best heavyweight in a non p4p sense. He is more athetic than lewis. Hits as hard as foreman and has ali like speed and the perfect height reach forva heavyweight. Expect easy night with the wrestler.

[ldlamb]

There is no way to know that yet.

[BitPlayer]

No.

[RScarf1]

Is he better than Muhammad Ali? He has a lot to prove, but I think he's not a poor man's Frank Bruno as Tyson Fury has stated.

[Oiky]

Not even anywhere near close to being the best heavyweight ever yet in any sense

[RScarf1]

He has to beat Klitschko convincingly. He has to do better than Fury did.

[Kalan]

Joshua is the best Heavyweight so far because he's taken training and preparation to another level... The one lesson he took from Klitschko when he sparred for him -- because AJ is a guy who asks a ton of questions: If you're better prepared for a fight than your opponent is...and you also happen to be bigger, taller, stronger, faster and have better skills than your opponent, there are a lot fewer things that can go wrong and throw the fight to your opponent..

Because of Joshua's natural gifts he has the power to control the outcome of most of his fights -- but he could give all that up if he ever came in poorly prepared.. That's a piece of advice Klitschko gave him that stuck.. Wlad said he learned this the hard way. There's 2 ways to learn something.

Tyson and Ali had a lot of advantages on most of their opponents also... Sometimes they gave them up by not being prepared... AJ will never do that.

[Kalan]

I would say Lennox Lewis too... For the Rahman 1 fight... He wasn't ready for that one.

[asdfjkl]

I think AJ is indeed the best heavyweight ever, somehow he wasn't before his Dillian Whyte fight, that fight really woke him up.

[RScarf1]

I know Joshua trains for hours a day and is in tip-top shape, but so was Ali before he took a three year forced hiatus.

[Kalan]

I know Joshua trains for hours a day and is in tip-top shape, but so was Ali before he took a three year forced hiatus.

There are many hiatuses for Heavy Champs... Tyson was out 4 years... Foreman was out 10 years... Louis out 4 years for WWII... Dempsey was out 2 years once and 3 years before Tunney between Title Fights... Willard took 4 years off after the Johnson fight... Jeffries was out 6 years... Vitali Klitschko was out 4 years to rehab his legs and came back at 37... Holmes was out 5 years in 2 retirements... So a lot of guys were off longer than Ali.

I wasn't impressed with Ali's strength or conditioning prior to his fights with Young, Norton 1, Spinks 1, Frazier 1, Cooper II, Mildenberger, Chuvalo II, Holmes, Berbick, and just his strength and conditioning in general I guess... Joshua also has better technical skills and doesn't get ripped with left hooks.

[RScarf1]

Training, strength, conditioning, and nutrition is better now than it was in the 1980s. Mike Tyson admitted to that. Joshua may be the best heavyweight in conditioning, but he's going to have to beat top heavyweights to be considered the best ever, starting with Klitschko. I don't know if he's going to be able to get enough of those wins because there are not enough great heavyweights for Joshua to fight like Ali, Holyfield, and Lennox Lewis did.

[lefty]

Joshua is not as talented as Lewis was.

[man]

There is no way to know that yet.

[candyslim]

Oh behave yourself! How can you make that claim about a man who has an 18 and 0 record FFS?

I believe in AJ. I really think he's the real deal and this question may be entirely realistic ... in about ten years time.

But now ... even before the Klitschko fight ... you're embarrassing yourself mate.

[Ossyrules]

No he's not - to the post title

[candyslim]

He's behind yoooou !

[Thomastearns]

Is he better than Muhammad Ali? He has a lot to prove, but I think he's not a poor man's Frank Bruno as Tyson Fury has stated.

He may be better than Bruno in the punch resistance department but not in power or training.

Compared to Fury he looks static, and this may be why Klitschko took the fight. Fury just would not give Wlad time to cue up his punches. Fury beat Klitschko by fighting to his own strengths, making him look slow and clumsy.

Joshua strengths are similar to Klitschko's. AJs advantages in youth outweigh Wlads in experience. I am afraid for Klitschko, so many boxers try and fail to recapture the glow of their younger days. But this is a very powerful opponent he's facing. He might even be the best heavyweight Britain's ever produced, but he'll need to take Klitschko out early to claim that.

Bruno and Lewis would walk through a 41 year old Klitschko.

[RScarf1]

Bruno and Lewis would walk through a 41 year old Klitschko.

If that's the case, then Joshua will walk through Klitschko because I think Joshua is better than Bruno.

[candyslim]

No he's not - to the post title

I'm very glad you amended that. I thought you meant "No he's not (embarrassing himself)".

I love Anthony Joshua and I'm hoping he will beat Klitschko, then see off Ortiz, Wilder, Parker ... any credible challengers in the future, but to call him the best Heavyweight ever at this stage of his career is absurd and I'm amazed anyone over twelve could put it forward as a serious proposition.

Perhaps the OP omitted the word "potentially" because that might, just might, make it a sensible question.

[man]

muhammad ali pre-exile was very unusual.
it is definitely waaaay premature to even
mention joshua in sentence with the greatest
and i think this is how anthony sees it too.

but real greatness is not shown against
mediocre opponents, but against great
ones. so far AJ looked very good, which
all boxers do against substantially weaker
opponents.

wlad is his first real challenge and probably
an easy one, since he is above 4o.

[SteveDow]

Is this thread a joke or what? How on earth can anyone say AJ is the best heavyweight ever based on what we've seen so far?!

[asdfjkl]

AJ is at least on schedule to become the best heavyweight boxer that ever lived.
If he fights more often I see him capable to fight any big name in the division that dares to face him.


On the other side, I can understand it if people say things like "Senad Gashi" is currently on a similar schedule as AJ was and so is "Jun Long Zhang".

[Dixonian]

I know Joshua trains for hours a day and is in tip-top shape, but so was Ali before he took a three year forced hiatus.

There are many hiatuses for Heavy Champs... Tyson was out 4 years... Foreman was out 10 years... Louis out 4 years for WWII... Dempsey was out 2 years once and 3 years before Tunney between Title Fights... Willard took 4 years off after the Johnson fight... Jeffries was out 6 years... Vitali Klitschko was out 4 years to rehab his legs and came back at 37... Holmes was out 5 years in 2 retirements... So a lot of guys were off longer than Ali.

I wasn't impressed with Ali's strength or conditioning prior to his fights with Young, Norton 1, Spinks 1, Frazier 1, Cooper II, Mildenberger, Chuvalo II, Holmes, Berbick, and just his strength and conditioning in general I guess... Joshua also has better technical skills and doesn't get ripped with left hooks.

Sports science has developed a lot since Ali's day. I can't remember who said it, but I think it was a former boxer who made the point that boxers today are generally fitter and stronger that those of the past. BUT, that the fighters of yesterday were tougher.

[Stuarty]

He's the most humble heavyweight ever....