BoxRec

I feel that Anthony Joshua is capable to become a great champion (like Lennox Lewis).
I have not put Klitschko and Wilder on this list - Klitschko is 40, should think about retirement, Wilder, obviously, has some serious problems (too fragile tiny bones in his fists).
I am almost sure that Joshua would easily defeat Povetkin, Pulev and Parker.
What do you think about three potential opponents from my list (Ortiz, Haye, Usyk) and his chances to upset Joshua ?

I dont know usyk. But i feel the other 2 would probably beat him right now. We really have no idea how good aj is until he takes on a top opponent. Fair enough he has another soft touch and takes on klitschko next year, which will be big challenge, though i'd favour klitschko.

Ortiz would pose a major problem -- but he's getting old... Haye would be a tough fight, but Joshua is too big and strong for him... He get him out.. You have to be kidding with Usyk... He's too damned small and it would be GGG-Brook all over again.

Joshua beats anyone but Ortiz right now... And I'll favor him to beat Ortiz when they meet -- which won't be for a while... These people aren't dumb.

Kalan wrote:Ortiz would pose a major problem -- but he's getting old... Haye would be a tough fight, but Joshua is too big and strong for him... He get him out.. You have to be kidding with Usyk... He's too damned small and it would be GGG-Brook all over again.

Joshua beats anyone but Ortiz right now... And I'll favor him to beat Ortiz when they meet -- which won't be for a while... These people aren't dumb.

I was serious about Usyk. I see him as a extremely gifted and fearless.

ValMar wrote:[

I was serious about Usyk. I see him as a extremely gifted and fearless.

Usyk is something very special.

I think haye beats him easily enough of he gets past first two rounds as his speed is amazing for a heavyweight

ValMar wrote:The most dangerous opponent for Joshua : Ortiz, Haye or Usyk ?

Oleksandr Usyk is a cruiserweight and his short-term goal, which would probably take a couple of years to achieve, is to unify the 200lb division and he has stated that he'll only make the jump to heavyweight when he has ran out of decent opponents or when he struggles to make weight.

Therefore, it seems very prudent to remove his name from consideration from the question posed by the title of this thread.

In terms of Haye and Ortiz, we don’t know how much the ‘Hayemaker’ has left in the tank, because he has only faced one decent British domestic level opponent in the last four years… and Eddie Hearn won’t match AJ with ‘King Kong’ until 2018 at the earliest, which is when he’ll be approaching 40 years of age.

Therefore, it’s impossible to answer this question since: Usyk is a cruiserweight with no short-term plans to make the jump to heavyweight; Haye is an unknown quantity as he hasn’t defeated a half-decent opponent in more than four years; and we don’t know how much the veteran Ortiz would have declined in two years’ time, which is when Eddie Hearn will be willing to match him up with Joshua.

wilder is dangerous. the dude got high high power, he can ko anybody, that ko on the polish guy was vicious. also wilder can take it. stiverne a good puncher and wilder took his shots. if wilder and josh start rumbling and lets fists fly, anything can happen, both can end up face down, so yes, wilder would be very dangerous, anybody with 30 fights or so and around 29 kos is dangerous.

ortiz is the best heavyweight in the world. he beats anybody right now. josh is second.

haye, he can do some damage, but at the end. josh to tall, to strong, to much reach advantage.

same goes for usyk. by far the best cw in the world, but usyk vs josh, would be like comparing crawford to fight golovkin, no chance. size does matter.

x2x wrote:

ValMar wrote:[

I was serious about Usyk. I see him as a extremely gifted and fearless.

Usyk is something very special.

I have been following boxing since 1970, never claimed to be an expert, but certainly some kind of a genuine fan. I feel that I have never seen a boxer naturally gifted (and fearless) like Usyk. I think that he is more than excellent in almost all elements of boxing game - skills, mobility, endurance, chin, stamina, heart (10/10, surely). Maybe, his punch power is not excellent , but it is very decent (8/10). His height and reach are quite enough to be a HW champion (Ali had the same reach and height). I would like to see him at HW as soon as possible, and expect him to be one of the best HWs in the game.

ValMar wrote: I have been following boxing since 1970, never claimed to be an expert, but certainly some kind of a genuine fan. I feel that I have never seen a boxer naturally gifted (and fearless) like Usyk. I think that he is more than excellent in almost all elements of boxing game - skills, mobility, endurance, chin, stamina, heart (10/10, surely). Maybe, his punch power is not excellent , but it is very decent (8/10). His height and reach are quite enough to be a HW champion (Ali had the same reach and height). I would like to see him at HW as soon as possible, and expect him to be one of the best HWs in the game.

If heavyweight champs nowadays weren't 6'9" 250, 270 pound giants he could be a heavyweight champ himself right now. As I keep saying boxing needs a super heavyweight division!

Usyk may be the best P4P out of all of them, but I think he's too small to have a good shot.

crusader wrote:Usyk may be the best P4P out of all of them, but I think he's too small to have a good shot.

See my post above. When I was boxing I was just over 200 so I take the lack of a super heavyweight div personally. If I stand next to a giant who is over a head taller than me and weighs more than 50 pounds more than I do I think of all the precious little squirts in all their precious little super flyweight and junior flyweight and whatever they are, their precious little divisions separated by like 3 whole pounds!

When Ali started pro boxing he was 6'2" 192. Usyk is 6'3" 199. But when Ali was the same age as Usyk he was 220 - 227.

IMO, probably Ortiz > Haye > Usyk. Ortiz has the power to really hurt Joshua a lot worse than Whyte did. Haye really came close to beating Wlad, regardless of what the scorecards said, and it was really frustrating for me watching the fight and thinking Wlad doesn't necessarily have it in the bag. Against a much more inexperienced fighter like Joshua, Haye would have a legitimate chance, even though not a favorite. Usyk is a great cruiserweight, but you haven't proven yourself against the top heavyweights until you've proven yourself against the top heavyweights.

Lackeos wrote:IMO, probably Ortiz > Haye > Usyk. Ortiz has the power to really hurt Joshua a lot worse than Whyte did. Haye really came close to beating Wlad, regardless of what the scorecards said, and it was really frustrating for me watching the fight and thinking Wlad doesn't necessarily have it in the bag. Against a much more inexperienced fighter like Joshua, Haye would have a legitimate chance, even though not a favorite. Usyk is a great cruiserweight, but you haven't proven yourself against the top heavyweights until you've proven yourself against the top heavyweights.

you honestly think haye was close winning against wlad

i hate wlad, but haye was losing like every single round.

Ortiz & Usyk.

If Haye is anything like he was five years ago, then him too, but as he has been feasting on The Walking Dead since returning after a lengthy hiatus, it's difficult to know what he has left.

Lackeos wrote:IMO, probably Ortiz > Haye > Usyk. Ortiz has the power to really hurt Joshua a lot worse than Whyte did. Haye really came close to beating Wlad, regardless of what the scorecards said, and it was really frustrating for me watching the fight and thinking Wlad doesn't necessarily have it in the bag. Against a much more inexperienced fighter like Joshua, Haye would have a legitimate chance, even though not a favorite. Usyk is a great cruiserweight, but you haven't proven yourself against the top heavyweights until you've proven yourself against the top heavyweights.

Whatchoo talkin' 'bout, Willis?

Have you watched an alternative version of Klitschko/Haye on David Haye's website?

The actual fight I watched between the two of them was nowhere near close.

Wladimir completely shut him out.

Anything more than 3 rounds for Haye would be generous to him.

Ortiz definitely

Syntax Error wrote:

Lackeos wrote:IMO, probably Ortiz > Haye > Usyk. Ortiz has the power to really hurt Joshua a lot worse than Whyte did. Haye really came close to beating Wlad, regardless of what the scorecards said, and it was really frustrating for me watching the fight and thinking Wlad doesn't necessarily have it in the bag. Against a much more inexperienced fighter like Joshua, Haye would have a legitimate chance, even though not a favorite. Usyk is a great cruiserweight, but you haven't proven yourself against the top heavyweights until you've proven yourself against the top heavyweights.

Whatchoo talkin' 'bout, Willis?

Have you watched an alternative version of Klitschko/Haye on David Haye's website?

The actual fight I watched between the two of them was nowhere near close.

Wladimir completely shut him out.

Wlad won clearly, but the fight was competitive/almost competitive (8-4, or 9-3 type of match). I still think that Haye could win if he had more heart, and less mouth.

It's Ortiz, among that group. Usyk is skilled but I don't know if he is skilled enough to overcome his physical disadvantages. I don't even know that he is the best CW to try against the heavys. Haye's prime was 4-6 years ago. Even then I don't think he had enough to bet Joshua. Joshua needs to loosen up his stance a bit and learn to take full advantage of his height and reach. He's going to need it against Ortiz because Ortiz can really pound away once he gets inside on you. He has sharp awareness too and can drop you in a flash when you least suspect it.

haye