If they both retired today, would Anthony Joshua or Tyson Fury have the better legacy?

[Perkin Warbeck]

I think Anthony Joshua will have the better legacy.

- Joshua has never been caught taking what Fury called "wild boar meat".

- Fury (should have) lost to Ngannou, Joshua easily KOed Ngannou.

- Fury fought negatively and used head games to scrape by Klitschko is a dull fight, Joshua fought like a man and stopped Klitschko in an exciting fight.

- both lost twice to Usyk, but with an honest referee, Fury would have been stopped in the first fight, while Joshua was never hurt as badly.

- Fury avoided contenders like Parker and fought non-contenders (like Seferi and Schwarz) and avoided the rematch with Klitschko and delayed the Usyk fights, Joshua never avoided anybody and promptly fought Usyk.

- Outside of the ring, Joshua has more common sense and is of stronger character than Fury, who openly used cocaine, allowed himself to balloon up to a obese weight, and who retired and unretired multiple times. Joshua and his promoter Hearn were honest about their losses to Usyk, while Fury and "Allegedly" were poor sports and denied the losses, refusing to give Usyk credit.

[gilgamesh]

Fury has the edge to me by the thinnest of margins. We need Fury/Joshua otherwise the argument will live on in Boxing circles forevermore.

[margaret thatcher]

fury best wins edge joshua's, fury 's losses arent as bad

joshua had more consistency in fighting respectable opponents

overall fury takes it i think


it would be ridiculous if they never end up fighting each other

[gilgamesh]

fury best wins edge joshua's, fury 's losses arent as bad

joshua had more consistency in fighting respectable opponents

overall fury takes it i think


it would be ridiculous if they never end up fighting each other

If they never fight i think it lowers them both a few notches historically.

[Jeff_lacy_ko]

Fury no question

[KiwiRider]

The drug cheating negates some of Fury's wins. Which ones, I don't know, but his career is tainted none the less.
Ducking the rematch with Klitschko also goes against him. I believe he would have lost or popped hot.
Ducking Joshua is also telling.

I'm going with Joshua.
Fought more reigning champions, did better against Uysk, because Fury should have been stopped in his first fight.
Had more title fights, fought a greater selection of top or second tier guys and hung onto his three belts a lot longer than Fury with his three he never defended.

[KiwiRider]

The BoxRec algorithm has Joshua at #25, one below Mike Tyson, and Fury is #32.

[gilgamesh]

The drug cheating negates some of Fury's wins. Which ones, I don't know, but his career is tainted none the less.
Ducking the rematch with Klitschko also goes against him. I believe he would have lost or popped hot.
Ducking Joshua is also telling.

I'm going with Joshua.
Fought more reigning champions, did better against Uysk, because Fury should have been stopped in his first fight.
Had more title fights, fought a greater selection of top or second tier guys and hung onto his three belts a lot longer than Fury with his three he never defended.

I don't recall any of Fury's victories being overturned due to a drug accusation so saying that would hurt his legacy is nonsense.

Holyfield got accused of stuff like that. Didn't hurt his legacy none.

[Jeff_lacy_ko]

Joshua was so clearly on hgh it doesnt matter fury was positive once.

[KiwiRider]

The drug cheating negates some of Fury's wins. Which ones, I don't know, but his career is tainted none the less.
Ducking the rematch with Klitschko also goes against him. I believe he would have lost or popped hot.
Ducking Joshua is also telling.

I'm going with Joshua.
Fought more reigning champions, did better against Uysk, because Fury should have been stopped in his first fight.
Had more title fights, fought a greater selection of top or second tier guys and hung onto his three belts a lot longer than Fury with his three he never defended.

I don't recall any of Fury's victories being overturned due to a drug accusation so saying that would hurt his legacy is nonsense.

Holyfield got accused of stuff like that. Didn't hurt his legacy none.

Maybe I didn't word it right. I said I don't know which fights were affected.
It just casts a cloud over a period in his career.
I mean, that pig farmer saying the Furys stiffed him on the £25K for his lying testimony just takes the cake.

[gilgamesh]

I personally don't care whether he was on anything or not. I hadn't even heard the story of the pig farmer. It's funny that that kinda thing is an outrage to anybody honestly. I wish I lived in a world where I thought PED's were bad because only bad guys do em and my favorite never would do anything like that.

But I know they all do em. Good guys. Bad guys, and everything in between. The guys that ain't on PED's also ain't on your television screen in all likelihood.

[joshj909]

Joshua defended his belts more, fought better opposition, unified belts, had a longer reign and didn't test positive. He also carried the division for a while. Fury's wins have aged like milk.

[Sendo Takeshi]

I guess it depends on the definition of "legacy".

Joshua’s resume and consistency give him the edge in my opinion.
He fought a tougher schedule overall, was active, and never really shied away from challenges (from what we can tell).

On the other hand, Fury looks the better boxer on paper. His losses don’t seem as damaging as AJ’s, but his wins mostly aged like milk though.

These two absolutely need to fight each other though. Without it, neither legacy feels complete. And if they do fight, I honestly believe Joshua can still beat him.

[gilgamesh]

Joshua defended his belts more, fought better opposition, unified belts, had a longer reign and didn't test positive. He also carried the division for a while. Fury's wins have aged like milk.

Joshua has I believe 8 title defenses of his various titles. Tyson Fury defended the Lineal Title 10 times. If the trinkets matter to you, he defended the WBC Title 3 times. He had the lineal title though which Joshua of course never did have at all, but Joshua does have a win over the man that would also be Fury's best win in Klitschko. Fury beat Klitschko more convincingly in one of the worst fights of all time, Joshua beat Klitschko convincingly in an exciting back and forth slugfest. The edge definitely goes to Joshua there. Joshua also had a better performance against Ngannou.

Fury beat Whyte easier, but he was a lot more beaten and battered by the time he got to Fury. Thanks in some part to Joshua who had battered him years earlier

They really are near neck and neck in terms of accomplishment. Joshua has generally been the more entertaining to watch of the 2.

[gregregegg]

The drug cheating negates some of Fury's wins. Which ones, I don't know, but his career is tainted none the less.
Ducking the rematch with Klitschko also goes against him. I believe he would have lost or popped hot.
Ducking Joshua is also telling.

I'm going with Joshua.
Fought more reigning champions, did better against Uysk, because Fury should have been stopped in his first fight.
Had more title fights, fought a greater selection of top or second tier guys and hung onto his three belts a lot longer than Fury with his three he never defended.

I don't recall any of Fury's victories being overturned due to a drug accusation so saying that would hurt his legacy is nonsense.

Holyfield got accused of stuff like that. Didn't hurt his legacy none.

Wasn’t a random accusation though. He was found guilty by UKAD. And he was banned (I assume it was never announced but he was not fighting and claiming to be injured or retired..

(then negotiated it to a 2 year backdated ban and started boxing again.)…

Now you can believe being stripped, his retirement and return that perfectly fitted the timeline of his failed test and ban being a coincidence, or you can realise that that retirement was serving a ban.

[gilgamesh]

Even being aware he was officially found guilty i honestly still wouldn't care. It just means someone in his camp didn't pay off the right guy I'd imagine

Doesn't effect his legacy one ounce in my eyes, but if it does for some that's your prerogative, and you're entitled to it.

Sometimes I like being stubborn just because on stuff like this. Like James Toney beating John Ruiz for the WBA Heavyweight title and then they overturned it to a No Contest due to a drug test. I'd argue that Toney was still technically WBA Champion on THAT day because the drug test still didn't come till days later, so I still give him his props and consider him one of history's Heavyweight champions. That's just the way I see it.

It makes it easier just not caring across the board than pretending to care for some fighters and looking the other way for others.

[gregregegg]

Even being aware he was officially found guilty i honestly still wouldn't care. It just means someone in his camp didn't pay off the right guy I'd imagine

Doesn't effect his legacy one ounce in my eyes, but if it does for some that's your prerogative, and you're entitled to it.

That’s a wild stance but I guess you’re allowed to have a wild stance.

Is it just cause you thought he didn’t cheat bad or are you ok with cheating?

Thoughts on big baby miller?

[joshj909]

Joshua defended his belts more, fought better opposition, unified belts, had a longer reign and didn't test positive. He also carried the division for a while. Fury's wins have aged like milk.

Joshua has I believe 8 title defenses of his various titles. Tyson Fury defended the Lineal Title 10 times. If the trinkets matter to you, he defended the WBC Title 3 times. He had the lineal title though which Joshua of course never did have at all, but Joshua does have a win over the man that would also be Fury's best win in Klitschko. Fury beat Klitschko more convincingly in one of the worst fights of all time, Joshua beat Klitschko convincingly in an exciting back and forth slugfest. The edge definitely goes to Joshua there. Joshua also had a better performance against Ngannou.

Fury beat Whyte easier, but he was a lot more beaten and battered by the time he got to Fury. Thanks in some part to Joshua who had battered him years earlier

They really are near neck and neck in terms of accomplishment. Joshua has generally been the more entertaining to watch of the 2.

The lineal title is a made up title and he also served a drugs ban for two years so would've been legitimately stripped anyway. You fell for the Fury/Warren promotion tactic. Notice how the lineal championship hasn't been mentioned a single time since?

[gilgamesh]

"Big Baby" Miller is a decent contender. Pretty inactive. That's my opinion on him and that's about it.

[gilgamesh]

Joshua defended his belts more, fought better opposition, unified belts, had a longer reign and didn't test positive. He also carried the division for a while. Fury's wins have aged like milk.

Joshua has I believe 8 title defenses of his various titles. Tyson Fury defended the Lineal Title 10 times. If the trinkets matter to you, he defended the WBC Title 3 times. He had the lineal title though which Joshua of course never did have at all, but Joshua does have a win over the man that would also be Fury's best win in Klitschko. Fury beat Klitschko more convincingly in one of the worst fights of all time, Joshua beat Klitschko convincingly in an exciting back and forth slugfest. The edge definitely goes to Joshua there. Joshua also had a better performance against Ngannou.

Fury beat Whyte easier, but he was a lot more beaten and battered by the time he got to Fury. Thanks in some part to Joshua who had battered him years earlier

They really are near neck and neck in terms of accomplishment. Joshua has generally been the more entertaining to watch of the 2.

The lineal title is a made up title and he also served a drugs ban for two years so would've been legitimately stripped anyway. You fell for the Fury/Warren promotion tactic. Notice how the lineal championship hasn't been mentioned a single time since?

The lineal championship don't need mentioning it exists because you follow boxing closely and you keep track of it's lineage from one Champion to the other. Wladimir Klitscho was really the first guy to solidify a claim to the Title in the post Lewis era so he was the man to beat.

Fury beat him.

[Ruthless-RKO]

The Ring and Lineal was linked for decades.

Even they stripped him after 3 years.

Ok, let's add the lineal defenses..

Seferi, Pianeta, Schwarz, Wallin, even Chisora and Ngannou.

Pretty poor opponents.. But then lineai is not a sanctioning body or organisation. it's just the man who beat the man.

By Ring standards, A Ring champion must schedule a fight against a Top-5 ranked contender (in any weight class) at least once every 2 years to retain their Ring title. he'd have been stripped regardless.

Josh is right, no one calls Usyk lineal champion.

Fury and his team pushed it, cus he had been stripped/vacated of all the org belts and eventually the Ring, so he wanted to push the fact that he still had a title.

[Noxy]

Who cares, I don't think either of them will fight again. We've missed out on that mega fight. And it would have been a good one.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Who cares

isn't that the point of a forum?

[JC]

fury best wins edge joshua's, fury 's losses arent as bad

joshua had more consistency in fighting respectable opponents

overall fury takes it i think

Agree with this.

[gilgamesh]

The Ring and Lineal was linked for decades.

Even they stripped him after 3 years.

Ok, let's add the lineal defenses..

Seferi, Pianeta, Schwarz, Wallin, even Chisora and Ngannou.

Pretty poor opponents.. But then lineai is not a sanctioning body or organisation. it's just the man who beat the man.

By Ring standards, A Ring champion must schedule a fight against a Top-5 ranked contender (in any weight class) at least once every 2 years to retain their Ring title. he'd have been stripped regardless.

Josh is right, no one calls Usyk lineal champion.

Fury and his team pushed it, cus he had been stripped/vacated of all the org belts and eventually the Ring, so he wanted to push the fact that he still had a title.

No one called Lennox Lewis the lineal Champion either

Nobody calls any of them "Lineal" Champion unless they've been stripped for some reason or another.

Muhammad Ali was still the Lineal Champion when he fought Quarry and Bonavena

Foreman was still the Lineal Champion when he fought Axel Schulz, Crawford Grimsley and Lou Savarese.

This way of thinking comes down to the old school Boxing mentality that Championships are won and lost in the ring. If you won it there, you can't lose it somewhere else.