BoxRec

Joshua is going to be struggling to keep hold of his 2 titles.
Probably not impossible but it looks like the IBF and WBA are putting pressure on to face his 2 respective mandatories.

If he is faced with the option, which would you rate as the more difficult task and the better win, Ortiz or Pulev.

Neither of the two are mugs. Pulev was officially the best of the rest when he faced Wlad. Many point to the knock out loss but he did trouble Wlad at times.
He is a good fighter and although not a murderous puncher, I think his punch power is under rated.

Ortiz looks the more dangerous opponent on paper. But has looked old at times and I think he 'd be too slow to get off on AJ.

i don't get why any sanctioning body would want to risk Joshua giving up their trinket.

The guy is the biggest fricken draw in boxing pretty much, why on earth would they not want to rake in their percentage of the purse every time? Am I missing something here?

If i was joshua id fight the pair of them within 3 months of each other then take out big mouth wilder

Both tricky defences. Can't really split them. Pulev is the more mobile of the two and Ortiz probably has better power and ring craft but he's very static. Pulev might prove slightly trickier due to his speed and movement but AJ probably stops both of them.

Ortiz v Pulev is a decent fight come to think of it.

Not sure what to make of Ortiz. The night he flattened Jennings i was sure he was the best HW in the world. He has great ability in close which has been rare at world-level HW boxing in the Klitchko era. I think he would KO Joshua if he still has it - but his last 2 performances would suggest he doesn't.

Riddick Blowe wrote:i don't get why any sanctioning body would want to risk Joshua giving up their trinket.

The guy is the biggest fricken draw in boxing pretty much, why on earth would they not want to rake in their percentage of the purse every time? Am I missing something here?

Nope. Your spot on the money.
Any belt that slips away from AJ immediately devalues in recognition and revenue.

Ortiz because of his greater power. IMO AJ can afford to make more mistakes against Pulev. Ortiz is also a patient fighter, and if AJ unloads and cant get him out of there it could be trouble again, though I'd expect him to win.

Ortiz is the tougher of the 2. Pulev is a decent fighter, but I don't see him troubling Joshua. He's been unravelled by Wlad already also, so Joshua must be very confident that he can damage pulev and put him down.

Ortiz does look strong as an ox, but has laboured pretty badly in his last 2. Joshua would have to be a bit more patient and calculated taking out Ortiz

I think Joshua just walks through Pulev and I think he can outbox and stop Ortiz late

Ortiz definitely

Joshua beats both handily. Ortiz must be 45yrs old.

Ortiz for me. Has one punch power to trouble AJ.

I honestly do not see any of these guys a problem what so ever for Joshua, unless they land heavily. Ortiz would just be a punch bag for Joshua, he's lack of movement and activeness in rounds will see him lose near enough every round. Ortiz does have power - i agree with that. I just don't see anything about Pulev that would trouble Joshua, he would dominate Pulev imo.

The only problem Joshua might have is getting the KO against Ortiz.

King Kong is the tougher test and I'd like to see the fight but nowhere near as much as I'd like to see Wilder v Joshua.

Ricky_ wrote:Not sure what to make of Ortiz. The night he flattened Jennings i was sure he was the best HW in the world. He has great ability in close which has been rare at world-level HW boxing in the Klitchko era. I think he would KO Joshua if he still has it - but his last 2 performances would suggest he doesn't.

It's strange, Ortiz really did look the real deal. Since signing with Hearn, he's looked very poor. Joshua batters him at this point.

Boxerbeetle wrote:

Ricky_ wrote:Not sure what to make of Ortiz. The night he flattened Jennings i was sure he was the best HW in the world. He has great ability in close which has been rare at world-level HW boxing in the Klitchko era. I think he would KO Joshua if he still has it - but his last 2 performances would suggest he doesn't.

It's strange, Ortiz really did look the real deal. Since signing with Hearn, he's looked very poor. Joshua batters him at this point.

Indeed, he made easy work of Bryant Jennings. That Ortiz would be a different story.

Ortiz is clearly a bigger threat. Technically he can offer lot more then Pulev, who only has jab. Plus Ortiz is physically stronger with bigger punch.

Joshua will eventually walk through Pulev just like Wlad did, even if Pulev has some success early.

Ortiz is a slippery customer and will be hard to pin down. I think Joshua's superior power, accuracy and speed should give him a win. But margins are slim and I believe Ortiz has levels he can go if he needs to, so there is no way to be sure about the outcome.

No one's a tough opponent for Super Joshua.

Everyone else should just retire.

Definetely has to be king kong. Stopped something like 23 of his 27 opponents. 3 points wins we,re in his first five fights and the other was malik scott who basically ran away all night. Bearing in mind ortiz is more of a counter puncher its a pretty impressive stoppage record. Power that seems to have travelled up the levels. Although tbf the levels not quite been top level barring maybe jennings who,s not really top level.

The only problem i see is he likes to take punches to get his own off at times. Knowing he,ll outlast guys. Bit of a dangerous strategy against joshua that but in his defence his subtle movement is very good. He also doesnt waste much energy relaxed in there dont think he,ll gas. Hes not the type to fold or fall apart easily either. 84 inch reach. Could potentially be a bannana skin for joshua.

Out of the two Ortiz is the more dangerous, just based on his stopping power.

Both have good boxing ability and Pulev even has former experience fighting against Wladimir for the world titles before, but against Joshua he'd be fighting a younger, stronger and more dangerous opponent then he last faced at the world level. That's before you consider Joshua will be even better then his last fight.
Ortiz has the edge in power out of himself and Pulev but the last couple of his fights he hasn't been overly impressive, maybe that's just because he wasn't motivated but who knows. This fight is the one he'll have been waiting for and it's his big chance to take the belt's so he would be coming in ready to fight and win.

Klitschko took Joshua the distance and he (Joshua) was tired but pushed on and even had that monster of a punch left in the tank to turn the fight in his favour, there's no way his team wouldn't have taken that into account and are now confident he can easily go a full 12 rounds and finish strong against either of these two contenders.