Peter Fury’s interpretation of Joshua’s performance against Pulev perfectly reflects my own.
“Are there areas where Anthony Joshua can still improve? We’ve talked about the AJ we saw in Saudi Arabia (for the Ruiz Jr. rematch), which was very much based on the boxing side of things...
“[Joshua] was talking about the return to the rough-and-ready AJ...
“What do you think suits him, which style suits him better?”
Peter Fury responded by saying “[AJ] was a little bit hesitant in there.
“I think when he fires them jabs, he needs to combine a fiery shot to his combinations, let his hands go.”
“He didn’t seem to let his hands go much in there tonight, but when he did let them go, he was lethal!”
“But he just waited a little bit too long for me, but every fighter has got things to work on...
“For me, he’s too upright, there’s no [side-to-side] lateral movement, he needs a lot more of that, because Tyson’s got all that in abundance, actually!”
Joshua’s finish was impressive, but his overall performance was not. He looked gun-shy tonight and he can’t outbox a master boxer like Fury.
If I was AJ, I wouldn’t fight Tyson Fury during 2021, at least until he’s overcome his personal demons.
I think he’s paranoid about either being vulnerable to counters or running out of gas.
Perhaps Joshua needs two more confidence building fights to regain his form of old?
Pulev in my opinion has a masterful...ok well, maybe an exaggeration there...extremely competent jab. Aj out jabbed him. To me, that's speaks to how much AJ has improved and how competent his is. Fighting Fury however is an entirely different story which I won't comment on. Going back to AJ...great to see he is taking his boxing seriously over weightlifting/strength conditioning.
Joshua should fight Usyk first because he doesn't have the power to be a threat
and will be a solid test for boxing skills. Joshua needs to improve head, body and foot
movement to fight Fury.
Fury shouldn't fight Wilder again before Joshua because the lottery punch could land.
However, he should fight better than a bum. He needs to sharpen up a bit too.
All of this could go wrong. Titles taken away, etc.
marvelous marv wrote: ↑12 Dec 2020, 20:26
AJ is gonna fight Usyk next despite having Fury lined up and ready to go.
Seems so. He was reluctant to call Fury out in the post fight interview. Shame on him.
I can’t blame AJ. He’s lacking confidence and he seemed angry or frustrated during his post-fight interviews.
His pre-fight promises to return to his rough-and-ready destructive form of old failed to come to fruition.
And at times tonight, he seemed overly-cautious to the point he often failed to pull the trigger.
He might need an easier fight to rebuild his confidence, because Fury can trade and he can box. He’s better than anyone Joshua has faced.
I don't know what it was about, but Pulev was clearly getting under his skin, and then they were arguing in the ring after the fight.
On DAZN the mics were picking it up in the background, before they caught the tail end of it on camera.
Pulev was in Joshua's face and kept repeating "remember who I am"
And AJ was looking pissed off saying "who [the f---] are you?"
It seemed like they had been exchanging heated words about something, until their teams guided Pulev away from Joshua.
Might be why Joshua looked angry and frustrated in the interviews.
Seems so. He was reluctant to call Fury out in the post fight interview. Shame on him.
I can’t blame AJ. He’s lacking confidence and he seemed angry or frustrated during his post-fight interviews.
His pre-fight promises to return to his rough-and-ready destructive form of old failed to come to fruition.
And at times tonight, he seemed overly-cautious to the point he often failed to pull the trigger.
He might need an easier fight to rebuild his confidence, because Fury can trade and he can box. He’s better than anyone Joshua has faced.
I don't know what it was about, but Pulev was clearly getting under his skin, and then they were arguing in the ring after the fight.
On DAZN the mics were picking it up in the background, before they caught the tail end of it on camera.
Pulev was in Joshua's face and kept repeating "remember who I am"
And AJ was looking pissed off saying "who [the f---] are you?"
It seemed like they had been exchanging heated words about something, until their teams guided Pulev away from Joshua.
Might be why Joshua looked angry and frustrated in the interviews.
Perhaps you’re right, because I don’t really know either way.
The fact remains is is that Joshua seemed angry and frustrated.
And I also feel that Joshua failed to deliver upon a pre-promise.
That may or may not have been the reason for his post-fight disappointment, but who knowS???
Enlightened-One wrote: ↑12 Dec 2020, 20:35
I can’t blame AJ. He’s lacking confidence and he seemed angry or frustrated during his post-fight interviews.
His pre-fight promises to return to his rough-and-ready destructive form of old failed to come to fruition.
And at times tonight, he seemed overly-cautious to the point he often failed to pull the trigger.
He might need an easier fight to rebuild his confidence, because Fury can trade and he can box. He’s better than anyone Joshua has faced.
I don't know what it was about, but Pulev was clearly getting under his skin, and then they were arguing in the ring after the fight.
On DAZN the mics were picking it up in the background, before they caught the tail end of it on camera.
Pulev was in Joshua's face and kept repeating "remember who I am"
And AJ was looking pissed off saying "who [the f---] are you?"
It seemed like they had been exchanging heated words about something, until their teams guided Pulev away from Joshua.
Might be why Joshua looked angry and frustrated in the interviews.
Perhaps you’re right, because I don’t really know either way.
The fact remains is is that Joshua seemed angry and frustrated.
And I also feel that Joshua failed to deliver upon a pre-promise.
That may or may not have been the reason for his post-fight disappointment, but who knowS???
Credit to Pulev. He was a lot tougher than I expected. He showed a really good chin which I had not expected (based on his reaction to a shot from Hughie Fury which really shook him). You won't see this Kubrat, but apologies from me for some disrespectful comments anyway.
I'm sure Joshua could have got him out of there much earlier but I got the impression AJ was enjoying himself. He's been out of the ring for a year and I think he was getting a really intense workout, much better than any sparring session, and I think he was in no rush to end it, but still conscious that for image reasons he needed to finish it by stoppage.
candyslim wrote: ↑13 Dec 2020, 05:06
Credit to Pulev. He was a lot tougher than I expected. He showed a really good chin which I had not expected (based on his reaction to a shot from Hughie Fury which really shook him). You won't see this Kubrat, but apologies from me for some disrespectful comments anyway.
I'm sure Joshua could have got him out of there much earlier but I got the impression AJ was enjoying himself. He's been out of the ring for a year and I think he was getting a really intense workout, much better than any sparring session, and I think he was in no rush to end it, but still conscious that for image reasons he needed to finish it by stoppage.
No way Pulev was better than I expected him to be. I was expecting at least a good jab, but Pulev was only feinting and taking punishment. Pulev just scored a couple of solid rights.
Pulev didn't show a lot of toughness either. He was turning his back, when he was given the first count. Joshua looked like he could finish Pulev off earlier.
candyslim wrote: ↑13 Dec 2020, 05:06
Credit to Pulev. He was a lot tougher than I expected. He showed a really good chin which I had not expected (based on his reaction to a shot from Hughie Fury which really shook him). You won't see this Kubrat, but apologies from me for some disrespectful comments anyway.
I'm sure Joshua could have got him out of there much earlier but I got the impression AJ was enjoying himself. He's been out of the ring for a year and I think he was getting a really intense workout, much better than any sparring session, and I think he was in no rush to end it, but still conscious that for image reasons he needed to finish it by stoppage.
No way Pulev was better than I expected him to be. I was expecting at least a good jab, but Pulev was only feinting and taking punishment. Pulev just scored a couple of solid rights.
Pulev didn't show a lot of toughness either. He was turning his back, when he was given the first count. Joshua looked like he could finish Pulev off earlier.
Stop the Crap TALK !!! Joshua was very tired and 70% of his punches missed in 3rd round. Pulev Diffintly knew how to duck Punchs
candyslim wrote: ↑13 Dec 2020, 05:06
Credit to Pulev. He was a lot tougher than I expected. He showed a really good chin which I had not expected (based on his reaction to a shot from Hughie Fury which really shook him). You won't see this Kubrat, but apologies from me for some disrespectful comments anyway.
I'm sure Joshua could have got him out of there much earlier but I got the impression AJ was enjoying himself. He's been out of the ring for a year and I think he was getting a really intense workout, much better than any sparring session, and I think he was in no rush to end it, but still conscious that for image reasons he needed to finish it by stoppage.
No way Pulev was better than I expected him to be. I was expecting at least a good jab, but Pulev was only feinting and taking punishment. Pulev just scored a couple of solid rights.
Pulev didn't show a lot of toughness either. He was turning his back, when he was given the first count. Joshua looked like he could finish Pulev off earlier.
He has a good jab and that showed but he wasn't better just tougher. It could easily have been stopped when he turned his back but by tougher I'm talking about his chin. He ate some shots I didn't think he was capable of.
Boxtune wrote: ↑13 Dec 2020, 05:37
Someone said AJ should take out Pulev inside a Round ...You got to love Members comment At Boxrec and Their Boxig Knowledge
That's closer to the mark than Bob Arum's assessment. I said Joshua would get it done inside three and I think he could have done had he really wanted to. I think he was in no hurry but it could have been stopped in the third anyway.
I'd keep very quiet about lacking knowledge if I were you. Glass houses and all that.
Boxtune wrote: ↑13 Dec 2020, 05:39
Stop the Crap TALK !!! Joshua was very tired and 70% of his punches missed in 3rd round. Pulev Diffintly knew how to duck Punchs
Enough tired and missed to make Pulev turn his back and sweep the canvas.
Joshua still is a bit robotic. He did well behind his jab and fought fairly smart. He should have been able to finish it in the 3rd but he didn't set up anything particularly well after the first 'knockdown' and that likely cost him. I don't think Joshua is a great finisher but he is a big puncher. He still makes a lot of mistakes that perhaps a stronger era of heavyweights could capitalise on. He did what he needed to do more or less won every round on the way to a knockout. Pulev looked like a 39 year old man tonight, no surprises there though.
I would favour Fury and Wilder (assuming he is the same after his loss to Fury as before it) over Joshua. The post fight interview was bazaar, as was the confrontation in the ring after the fight. Joshua is definitely vulnerable.
