If that happens then of course he will deserve a lot of respect especially if it were a performance where he showed himself the superior fighter and it wasn't the case - that even Joshua's biggest supporters are conscious of there being a risk of - his getting iced by one of Wilder's bombs, while looking like being on his way to a win.
For me though it wouldn't wipe out the years of avoiding top ten opponents, which is why he doesn't already have my respect, or at least not as much as someone who has held the WBC belt for three years would normally have. Don't worry I'm sure he's not losing any sleep about that
After watching Aj's last couple of fights, I can see why he doesn't appear to be so enthralled with a fight with Wilder. Sure he says that he's ready for Wilder but there's always a "but" involved and he uses his mandatory defenses as one of the excuses as to why it might not happen sooner than later. I think that AJ is going to be a fantastic heavyweight but he needs more time to hone his skills. A fight with Wilder in 2018 would be a bad decision because i think that Wilder is too dynamic for AJ right now. Way too fast and powerful. I can't stand Wilder but he moves and throws at a different level than AJ right now and the power is negligible.
Hell I'd respect him more if he simply started defending against Top 10 ranked contenders for f*cks sake. So of course I'd respect it if he was able to defeat Joshua.
He's a big enough puncher that you can't count him out against anybody.
asdfjkl wrote:Then he earned it, so yes, then he's the best boxer in the world.
On the other side, Ortiz and Povetkin are probably better, Povetkin had significantly less problems KOing Takam as AJ for example.
Povetkin struggled and lost more than 4 rounds against Takam. Takam did not land anything good on Joshua and was losing almost every round.
Takam gassed out against Povekin. Also for example Stiverne knocked out Aerola and Wilder did not. Still they got their ass whooped both
Didn't Takam have only about 2 weeks to prepare for Joshua ?
So what? It was ok for Rusophile "asdfjk" when Dohoupas got knocked out on one day notice ... It was "briliant perfomance" for his innocent hero Alexander
Povetkin struggled and lost more than 4 rounds against Takam. Takam did not land anything good on Joshua and was losing almost every round.
Takam gassed out against Povekin. Also for example Stiverne knocked out Aerola and Wilder did not. Still they got their ass whooped both
Didn't Takam have only about 2 weeks to prepare for Joshua ?
So what? It was ok for Rusophile "asdfjk" when Dohoupas got knocked out on one day notice ... It was "briliant perfomance" for his innocent hero Alexander
No, they both knew they were shadow fighters and it was known that Stiverne was expected to drop out. Stiverne isn't ready for anyone with a pulse for several years now.
asdfjkl wrote:Then he earned it, so yes, then he's the best boxer in the world.
On the other side, Ortiz and Povetkin are probably better, Povetkin had significantly less problems KOing Takam as AJ for example.
Povetkin struggled and lost more than 4 rounds against Takam. Takam did not land anything good on Joshua and was losing almost every round.
Takam gassed out against Povekin. Also for example Stiverne knocked out Aerola and Wilder did not. Still they got their ass whooped both
Didn't Takam have only about 2 weeks to prepare for Joshua ?
Nope. As soon as Pulev signed, Takem went into camp. He was in the shape of his recent career. It was AJ who had to train for a different opponent with 2 weeks notice.
