Round-by-Round: Anthony Joshua vs. Robert Helenius | DAZN - 12 August 2023

[margaret thatcher]

no one has had aj as unbeatable for years now, if they ever did. it often goes the other way with people too easily discrediting him. unified champ and being an elite world fighter for this long without even needing one bad decision is high level stuff. guys who slag him off will then rave about fighters who maybe at best could squeak by in a british title fight

look at how a guy like charles martin was made out to be a total can because aj beat him. a joke of a fighter. yet then he easily ko'd a wilder title challenger, repeatedly dropped boogeyman luis ortiz - wilder's best win by miles and miles, and just gave the new hot american future champ multiple scares.

[mickey1975]

no one has had aj as unbeatable for years now, if they ever did. it often goes the other way with people too easily discrediting him. unified champ and being an elite world fighter for this long without even needing one bad decision is high level stuff

look at how a guy like charles martin was made out to be a total can because aj beat him. a joke of a fighter. yet then he easily ko'd a wilder title challenger, repeatedly dropped boogeyman luis ortiz - wilder's best win by miles and miles, and just gave the new hot american future champ multiple scares.

Away from here, they did. Casuals who didn’t even know he was fighting last night.

[margaret thatcher]

nah, mike tyson is already unbeatable to the casuals

[Bigdogsnose]

wilder and AJ both have paths to victory. i do think a tentitive AJ standing at the edge of wilders 1-2 range is very dangerous, but he can no doubt dint wilder too. Its a very very tense one.

Was my first thought last night, if AJ stayed at that range hes bang on tbe end of wilders money shot. Also Wilder loves to fire straight off the clinch, AJ cant give him time to reset.

At this point wilders path to to victory looks a lot more obvious.

[SendoTakeshi97]

Dude lost to two guys after all his achievments and he "wasn't that good to begin with".
People who say that are the same ones who ask "why is everybody protecting their 0 and not daring to be great anymore?".
Because everybody is gonna shit on them after just one lose, that's why.

Breakdown when he loses and a lap of honour for beating Helenius? I’ve never known anything like it.

Maybe you just never worked as hard for something like he did?
AJ, Wilder and Fury all got alot of pride and to get defeated by the same guy twice must be very hard on him.
I don't wanna justify some of his dubious actions, but people who never fought in their life won't understand it.

[tony1234]

Bet Hearn wishes he had cancelled last night's show , must have cost him a fortune and all he got was rubbish in the 3 main fights

[jwfg]

I haven't seen the fight but reading accounts of it, it sounds like AJ is still gun shy and unlikely to trouble Wilder.

wilder was troubled by artur szpilka, eric molina, gerald washington, twice by ortiz.......i wouldnt be sure on it. it's like people have had their memories erased of wilder's career. he's also 38 in a few months, had gruelling stoppage losses in 2 of his last 3, and hasnt completed a round in almost 2 years. it's a risky fight for him too.

Great post Mags.

[The Gratest]

nah, mike tyson is already unbeatable to the casuals

He loves exaggerating things in a desperate attempt to get his points noticed.

[jwfg]

Bet Hearn wishes he had cancelled last night's show , must have cost him a fortune and all he got was rubbish in the 3 main fights

I think he can afford it.

[hhaehre]

i thought joshua asctually boxed okay tbh. jab was good. was winning all the rounds for me. it just was boring and uneventful till the ktfo

clearly, he is way more cauitious about throwing power than he used to be. vs helenius i think he was overly cautious and couldve ended it a good few earlier without much added risk

Yeah - that’s exactly how I saw it too.

It’s a shame he’s seemingly so hesitant to throw the right hand. It seemed to be there for him off the jab for most of the fight but rarely threw it.

Hopefully the way the fight ended will give him confidence for the Wilder fight.

It won't, but he could still beat Wilder. Joshua ain't no Ali in the boxing department that's for sure, but luckily he only has to be a Chuck Wepner to outbox Wilder. I think he can beat Wilder, but he has to land at least a few good shots early to keep Wilder honest. It's a pick'em fight imo.

[Ruthless-RKO]

The backlash against AJ has been severe. He’s just a fooking idiot, isn’t he? Breakdown when he loses and a lap of honour for beating Helenius? I’ve never known anything like it. And I’m sick of hearing about “the old AJ”, he’s gone, and wasn’t that good in the first place. Booing at a half empty O2…..

Bellend was annoying as ever. He just can’t hear a bad word about AJ can he? Or any other popular Matchroom/DAZN colleague.

He’ll defend AJ even if he knocked Bellew’s Nan out.

[Lenny Cravats]

Watching that, I can't see AJ getting another title.

He looks like he's doing a poor imitation of a Klitschko.

So many times he should've let his hands go last night, just like in every fight since Ruiz 1.

Wilder knocks him out. Fury absolutely batters him. I'm not sure I'd take him over DDD, Joyce or Zhang.

[samwbr]

Bet Hearn wishes he had cancelled last night's show , must have cost him a fortune and all he got was rubbish in the 3 main fights

He didn't have to pay Dillian 7 figures

[jwfg]

Watching that, I can't see AJ getting another title.

He looks like he's doing a poor imitation of a Klitschko.

So many times he should've let his hands go last night, just like in every fight since Ruiz 1.

Wilder knocks him out. Fury absolutely batters him. I'm not sure I'd take him over DDD, Joyce or Zhang.

I agree that Fury batters him, unless AJ lands clean and/or the Wilder knockdowns have taken their toll on Luke's punch resistance.

Wilder is a tough one, because he can go rounds where he scarcely throws a punch. Even after last night, I think Joshua will win more rounds. Can he stand up to Wilder's windmill, who knows.

AJ would absolutely obliterate DDD.

[Nightmare Roy]

I haven't seen the fight but reading accounts of it, it sounds like AJ is still gun shy and unlikely to trouble Wilder.

wilder was troubled by artur szpilka, eric molina, gerald washington, twice by ortiz.......i wouldnt be sure on it. it's like people have had their memories erased of wilder's career. he's also 38 in a few months, had gruelling stoppage losses in 2 of his last 3, and hasnt completed a round in almost 2 years. it's a risky fight for him too.

Great post Mags.

To me it's a 50/50 AJ is definitely in with a chance, Should be a good shoot out, will be interesting to see the bookies odds if it's made.

[veriton]

AJ is clearly a busted flush, timid in the ring and unstable after fights.

His ego will push him to Wilder and I'd love to see it

[Nightmare Roy]

beaten loads of world ranked contenders and multiple champs, year after year he was always the guy in our forum hw rankings (current scene) with the most wins over other fighters who had made our top 15. he's been top 5 minimum since 2016 , he unified successfully, on top of olympic gold. very good fighter , too many people get hysterical over him like he's sheeyat

He’s obviously not sh!t, he was a good fighter, but people had him as unbeatable! They’ve all deserted him now and he’s noticed!

He has always been over hyped by match room IMO and a think it has put a lot of pressure on him which probably hasn't helped him. I still think he has a chance against Wilder and Furt if the fights ever happen.

[Nightmare Roy]

Which Helenius dive was better AJ or Wilder

[Ricky]

AJ is clearly a busted flush, timid in the ring and unstable after fights.

His ego will push him to Wilder and I'd love to see it

I hope Wilder send him for an extended nap in r1 then gives him a "suck it" while he's stiff on the floor.

[jwfg]

AJ is clearly a busted flush, timid in the ring and unstable after fights.

His ego will push him to Wilder and I'd love to see it

Is Wilder not a busted flush also?

[high tower 1]

What was up with the godfather violin solo and the weird interview after ? AJ is a total idiot , I can’t believe he was once held up as a rival to Bruno re popularity.

He’s a total weirdo.

[Teddy's Toupee]

nah, mike tyson is already unbeatable to the casuals

He loves exaggerating things in a desperate attempt to get his points noticed.

It's embarrassing. But still not as embarrassing as bottling a spar with me.

[big lennox]

Which Helenius dive was better AJ or Wilder

I'm pleased that AJ got the win and I think, fundamentally, he is a nice guy, but I don't like to see celebrations like that when the opponent is in a bad state on the floor.

Caleb Plant's celebration after he beat Dirrell is the worst I have seen.

AJ, I think, feels very wounded from all the criticism he has received, most of which has been very unfair.

There is a bias against him compared to Fury. AJ has dared to be great. He took on Ruiz at short notice, won the rematch, went in with Uysk twice, beat two good fighters and is now set to face Wilder.

Fury beat ancient Chisora last time out ( and we all saw how old Chisora looked in the ring last night), swerved the Uysk fight, and is going to box a non boxer next.

Did anyone read Dev Sahni's tweets down playing AJ's win last night? Feels a bit unprofessional for a spokesperson of a TV company to do that.

That's one of the reasons I miss Adam Smith: always professional and respectful of people.

[Nightmare Roy]

What was up with the godfather violin solo and the weird interview after ? AJ is a total idiot , I can’t believe he was once held up as a rival to Bruno re popularity.

He’s a total weirdo.

He is a strange fellow, one minute Mr T preaching to the kids next a road man. I don't think he really knows how to act, I like the violin though, that was cool. Better than listening to 10,000 bellends doing an awful rendition of Sweet Caroline.

[Nightmare Roy]

Which Helenius dive was better AJ or Wilder

I'm pleased that AJ got the win and I think, fundamentally, he is a nice guy, but I don't like to see celebrations like that when the opponent is in a bad state on the floor.

Caleb Plant's celebration after he beat Dirrell is the worst I have seen.

AJ, I think, feels very wounded from all the criticism he has received, most of which has been very unfair.

There is a bias against him compared to Fury. AJ has dared to be great. He took on Ruiz at short notice, won the rematch, went in with Uysk twice, beat two good fighters and is now set to face Wilder.

Fury beat ancient Chisora last time out ( and we all saw how old Chisora looked in the ring last night), swerved the Uysk fight, and is going to box a non boxer next.

Did anyone read Dev Sahni's tweets down playing AJ's win last night? Feels a bit unprofessional for a spokesperson of a TV company to do that.

That's one of the reasons I miss Adam Smith: always professional and respectful of people.

I think AJ gets more respect than Fury now, AJ will fight anyone, Fury wants to earn as much as he can for as little risk, he's always been like that. Who really cares what FW's chief tea boy has to say.