Anthony Joshua

So, after Saturdays fight what does everybody think now?

For me, its been pretty hard assessing the fight and his performance. He answered a few questions, but now there's a few more to be answered in my opinion.

After the first few rounds I was questioning his stamina. He seemed to start plodding and looked like his cardio was poor to me. Obviiusly he'd never gone beyond 3 rounds so it was new territory for him and the fight started fast so it was an energy sapper. He also took that big left in the second which probably took something away from his legs for a while. Hopefully going 7 rounds will give him much needed experience in that regard.

He started quickly and I thought he was going to dispose of Dillian inside the first round but the guy can take a punch so fair play. The fact Josh went on to get a KO in the style he did in round 7 shows he can carry his power through the rounds which is good.

For me though, he needs to brush up on a few fundamentals and push forward from this fight now. I'd like to see him establish a powerful jab and work off that. He seems too eager to throw the big shots all the time and comes in straight lines, he looked very flat footed to me. I'd like to see a lot more head movement, boxing his way in and be on his toes a bit more. He knows he's got one punch knockout power, forget that now and go to work on movement and cardio between now and his next fight which I'm 90% certain will be a British title defence against Del boy.

He showed he can take a punch, regroup and retake control of the fight. However, I do feel against someone with better boxing skills and a killer instinct, ala David Haye, he could end up in serious trouble. Understandably he's still a novice so this is the time to make mistakes and learn from them.

For me, the next few fights should be the real learning curves now. His first 14 were non contest and other than becoming comfortable in the professional ring what did he actually learn. Not much I suspect.

I think he can be a real force in the division in the coming years but I don't think world titles are a nailed on certainty. I would seriously focus on how to control fights, set the pace, establish a strong jab and work on his overall movement, the lack of head movement was particularly worrying at times.

He knows he's got the power to take people out when he lands clean so its time to stop rushing for the KO and start learning how to boss the fight with something else other than sheer power because he won't be able to clear everybody out so easily from this point forward which was evident on Saturday

I think as his career progresses he's chin is going to become more and more of a talking point.

What should he do, get more experience against experienced operators who can slip a shot and punish mistakes or just go for it and the big bucks in Haye and Fury?

I think he's got the potentially to be a big force Herman. Personally if I was him, I'd forget the World titles for now and use 2016 to get some proper fights under his belt. If he does that successfully then the big money fights will be there down the line and he'll be much better equipped when they do come.

Whether that be against the likes of Haye and Fury we don't know. But there will always be big fights out there in some shape or form I'm sure.

I do think Haye is absolutely desperate for the AJ fight as soon as possible though based on what he was saying as a pundit on Saturday night. The man is dying to get in there with AJ IMO.

He is dying for the ppv revenue the fight will generate.

Yeah agreed catchweight. I also think he knows the time is now for a victory over AJ as well so he can kill two birds with one stone. Huge PPV money and being the man to put away a big, hyped up prospect like AJ.

As for Joshua. A lot of what you think/thought of him on Saturday probably depends on how good you thought Whyte was to begin with. Personally I thought it was a good performance. Think he'd probably start as underdog if he faced Fury tomorrow, but that's largely because he fought two days ago

I think overall it was a good performance Kingraf. I didn't expect him to blow Whyte away and I in fact predicted a Whyte KO anytime after round 6. Backing Whyte to win was more to do with going against the grain of popular opinion but I genuinely fancied it to go past round 6 and it did.

I personally think its much too soon to talk about Fury though. I reckon Fury has a much better engine than AJ and he'd be too hard to stick a bomb on early doors. I think Tyson Fury is much much better than he's given credit for.

I agree with what you have said. There are some decent Domestic level fights for AJ to take against Chisora, Price, Hughie Fury and maybe even Sam Sexton. Those guys will give him a test of his skills and world title credentials.

I am hearing rumours of a potential rematch with Whyte in April but I suspect that will be a more one sided affair. Joshua knows what he did wrong in that fight. He comes across as a perfectionist and I think he would seek to set them right

Right so apparently, Joshua is Eddie's new PPV guy and everyone of his fights will be PPV from now on.

So there is a very real prospect of a Joshua v Chisora fight being a PPV card in April. Ridiculous

I think you are probably looking at 6 ppv cards next year from Matchroom, rising to 8 for 2017.

I don't think he has chin issues in the slightest after that fight; Whyte is a good puncher and staggered him, there's not much more to it than that really.

I'll reserve judgement on his stamina until I see him in another fast paced fight, there were too many intangibles in that fight to gauge anything, there was for a change clear dislike between the two and that nervous energy can have an effect. I was however impressed with how he regrouped after the third round, settled down and started to box a lot more, there's room for improvement but that power will always be a big equaliser especially against Fury or Wlad.

He definitely was gassing a little in round 3. Though he clearly got his second wind because he looked better from round 4 onwards. If he can develop a good jab and not always go looking for the knockout then he will be fine. He reminds me of Khan in his early days. Khan was always looking to out speed everyone and go for the knockout. After Prescott lamped him and he teamed up with Roach he became a smarter fighter. Virgil then improved upon that.

I do not think Whyte is that good, But he has a damn good chin and gets stuck in, so will be a handful for some.

As for Joshua, I think he has shown that once he gets clipped and is made to work he may have problems, still quite early days but if that was Haye or someone with a bit more accuracy he would have stopped him, although I'm not sure Haye could take his power.

Anyone else think that Saturdays fight has made Haye a player in the division now?

I didn't think he was at all before Saturday night however there's a lot of weaknesses for him to exploit in Joshua as long as he's near his best. I feel Haye holds a lot more cards now than he did Saturday afternoon. Im not sure if it makes sense tho.

Did Joshua go down and was Whyte a powder puff puncher? No. Got caught, it happens. I personally think he got caught up in the hype and dislike and will learn to be cooler.

Did he lose any round other than the 2nd or 3rd (which he took off to clear his head)? Nope, was always winning the fight.

Do people who gas find and time punches as well as he was doing? Gassed fighters get nailed and stopped more often than not. Again he was in control.

Tyson, who was the biggest hype in modern history, got wobbled massively by Bruno - a guy who a few minutes before had hit the deck and got a point deducted for holding on for dear life!!! Whyte came to fight and is no mug. Not exactly a future HW champ but he was game and gave a guy with all of 55 minutes career experience a few problems.

Joshua isn't a Price, the punch he took would've rendered that big oaf unconscious... Not to mention a few top 5 HWs with suspect chins.

Anyone else think he's development as a fighter will suffer if he only fights PPV from his 14th fight onwards? He showed he has a lot to learn and the best way to do that is to fight regularly.

Joshua's chin is a non issue, he got caught with a big shot, what impressed me was his survival instincts, he was back towards the end of the round and pushing Whyte back

For me he boxed brilliantly and mostly dominated the fight, he only got caught when he got careless and thought the job was done

He looked a different class to Whyte in there and a rematch will be more emphatic

AZZJ44 wrote:Anyone else think that Saturdays fight has made Haye a player in the division now?

I didn't think he was at all before Saturday night however there's a lot of weaknesses for him to exploit in Joshua as long as he's near his best. I feel Haye holds a lot more cards now than he did Saturday afternoon. Im not sure if it makes sense tho.

Of course Haye is a player, seeing him sparing with the current WBC champ should show you that

Not sure Haye beats Josuha though....

I think the Saturdays was exactly the sort of fight he needed, and gave good indicators on what he needs to work- that being working behind the jab more, pacing himself better, and introducing better movement- he needs to learn how to systematically take an opponent apart before stepping up in class. Right now Haye and Fury would be a step too far, not necessarily unwinnable, but he's not the finished article, so why risk it? he now knows he can take a shot, and carry his power into the later rounds so there no need to worry about taking his chance before risking getting beat by someone else.

AZZJ44 wrote:Anyone else think that Saturdays fight has made Haye a player in the division now?

I didn't think he was at all before Saturday night however there's a lot of weaknesses for him to exploit in Joshua as long as he's near his best. I feel Haye holds a lot more cards now than he did Saturday afternoon. Im not sure if it makes sense tho.

Although I'd be reluctant to endorse Haye after the Fury thing, I think you'd have to say so now , yes.


Whyte isn't a noted puncher either. What's going to happen when Joshua's on the end of a well-timed bomb off a real hitter? Personally, I'm not sure I liked what I saw.


Don't think Haye wants to be getting clipped by Joshua either but Haye can be very slippery. Good fight. They've both got good timing, could go either way.

Whyte is a noted puncher, the whole build up centred around two unbeaten heavy hitters who don't like each other.

Positives -  immense power, great timing, carries power into later rounds, killer instinct, reasonable stamina

Negatives - chin(will his whole system shut down) ,  survival instincts  , looked there for the taking for a good minute after the wobble

He plods a bit but he has more positives then negatives.

The longer he goes on knocking people out and winning the more determined fighters will be to beat him.

Be interesting to see where Whyte goes from here, if he's strong and gets some good wins it'll make AJ's win look better. Reckon he could easily take Price, Chisora and Hughie Fury - makes him the 3rd best HW in Britain and probably 10-15 in the world if he put those wins together.

Don't know why Chis keeps getting floated for AJ, don't see as he'll learn much, like a domestic Kingpin. If he can't get Hughie Fury then he should be looking at Teper and Scott. Sod Parker, he'll never cross the equator.

"I think the Saturdays was exactly the sort of fight he needed..."

Are they still going? I'd prefer to see him in with Little Mix.

Haye obviously has the experience on Joshua at the moment no question, but the same David Haye blew himself out in a fight against Carl Thompson at the same stage of his career as Joshua.

The way Joshua improves is by fighting durable fighters who can take him into the later rounds, experience comes with rounds under the belt not by knocking over turkey's, Saturday was a good test, took a good shot and still had the ability to win.
Joshua may get wobbled again against a big puncher, its how he responds when caught, needs to learn how to hold, and tie he's opponent up, this was one of Bruno's major flaws.

The problem with judging Joshua on Saturdays performance was always going to be judging how good Whyte is as a benchmark. I've no idea. Is Whyte even a puncher? Yes, but he's only proven to be at the lowest level. My view is that it was a good test and a good fight but Whyte has never looked a world beater or shown anything spectacular so I can't say all the Joshua questions have been answered. It could prove to be a brilliant win in years to come... but there are loads of fighters with similar records to Whyte's out there who come to nothing.

I'd also pick chisora to beat Whyte if i were pushed to make a call, although I admit it'd be based on Chis having proven to be competitive at a higher level.

DuransHorse wrote:I'd also pick chisora to beat Whyte if i were pushed to make a call, although I admit it'd be based on Chis having proven to be competitive at a higher level.

Really? Based on??

Chis is shot since Haye, and he wasn't that great to start with. Decent boxing skills and chin but his chin doesn't look the same since Haye flattened him and his boxing skills seem to have largely been subsituted for pie eating skills more recently.

He has next to no power, and Whyte's chin looks damn good, so Chis has got to avoid getting KTFO whilst doing enough to pick up 7 rounds......

TopHat24/7 wrote:

DuransHorse wrote:I'd also pick chisora to beat Whyte if i were pushed to make a call, although I admit it'd be based on Chis having proven to be competitive at a higher level.

Really? Based on??

Chis is shot since Haye, and he wasn't that great to start with.  Decent boxing skills and chin but his chin doesn't look the same since Haye flattened him and his boxing skills seem to have largely been subsituted for pie eating skills more recently.

He has next to no power, and Whyte's chin looks damn good, so Chis has got to avoid getting KTFO whilst doing enough to pick up 7 rounds......

I would fancy Whyte to give Chisora a beating, I'd have a few quid on a stoppage, Chisora is finished and was only average when he was in his prime.

Never been a fan of Del boy personally. I actually think a British title defence against Chisora next would be a step backwards for his development. If not a step backwards, certainly not much better than the test Whyte gave him. I doubt Chis would even teat AJ's chin, and there's no way he'd evade one of AJ's bombs for the whole fight.

As has been said, how much of a test Whyte was will be found out further down the line. Most were giving Whyte no chance on here and didn't rate him at all. Does that tell us something on itself? Possibly.

All it tells us is that AJ has further improvements to make, too much is made of prospects in fights, as long as the relevant adjustments are made it's no issue in itself.

He needs more fights against opponents that actually show up with a desire to win. Chisora, Price, Perez, Hugh Fury, Big Daddy Browne or even the fella that splattered Price recently would be fun fights.

To be honest, its more fun when these big heavyweights have a few weaknesses and fight with a bit of reckless abandon. No interest in seeing Joshua be manufactured into another Klitschko. Hes already manufacturing the personality, lets hope the boxing style doesnt follow suit.

With you big time catchy. AJ getting wobbled merely adds to the intrigue and he'll seldom be in a boring fight. His technique with the jab is poor (doesn't roll/lean/step into it like Wlad does) and as such is open to counters, but it'd take a brave man with a chin to try and slip one to get one off.

He'll be exciting to watch, that won't change. Super excited to see how he evolves as he is fun to watch and has the tools to succeed. And he splatters Fury (powder puncher) now if they fought, his speed power and size would just be too much for the twitching oaf to deal with. Sadly won't be a world title fight as Wlad will turn up next time for the rematch.

Coxy001 wrote:With you big time catchy. AJ getting wobbled merely adds to the intrigue and he'll seldom be in a boring fight. His technique with the jab is poor (doesn't roll/lean/step into it like Wlad does) and as such is open to counters, but it'd take a brave man with a chin to try and slip one to get one off.

He'll be exciting to watch, that won't change. Super excited to see how he evolves as he is fun to watch and has the tools to succeed. And he splatters Fury (powder puncher) now if they fought, his speed power and size would just be too much for the twitching oaf to deal with. Sadly won't be a world title fight as Wlad will turn up next time for the rematch.

Wouldn't bet on that, Fury will do a job on him next time

Fury is suprisingly fleet footed for someone so big. AJ's only advantage that Wlad didn't have is a massive set of balls and a love for a scrap. If he was struggling to control Fury after a few rounds, like Wlad was, you could more likely see AJ just go for it like Wlad did for about 30 seconds in the 12th.

TopHat24/7 wrote:

DuransHorse wrote:I'd also pick chisora to beat Whyte if i were pushed to make a call, although I admit it'd be based on Chis having proven to be competitive at a higher level.

Really? Based on??

Chis is shot since Haye, and he wasn't that great to start with.  Decent boxing skills and chin but his chin doesn't look the same since Haye flattened him and his boxing skills seem to have largely been subsituted for pie eating skills more recently.

He has next to no power, and Whyte's chin looks damn good, so Chis has got to avoid getting KTFO whilst doing enough to pick up 7 rounds......

Well, based on more evidence of course?

I'm not a del boy fan, however he's only legitimately lost to the top guys and other than the last showing against Fury has done OK. Whyte may be better, however to assume so based on only one notable fight with a 'possible' future champion that he probably wouldn't have even got to fight if it weren't for their history... I don't want to jump on some bandwagon just because he wobbled a guy with a good shot and lasted 7 rounds. I give him a decent amount of credit and wouldn't be surprised if Whyte beat Chis at all, but he's not shown he's a different class. To be astounded by my comment is more astounding.

I think Chisora v Whyte would be a good matchup - would certainly give an indication as to what Del Boy has left, and also what level Whyte is at... would much prefer to see that than Joshua v Chisora...

DuransHorse wrote:

TopHat24/7 wrote:

DuransHorse wrote:I'd also pick chisora to beat Whyte if i were pushed to make a call, although I admit it'd be based on Chis having proven to be competitive at a higher level.

Really? Based on??

Chis is shot since Haye, and he wasn't that great to start with.  Decent boxing skills and chin but his chin doesn't look the same since Haye flattened him and his boxing skills seem to have largely been subsituted for pie eating skills more recently.

He has next to no power, and Whyte's chin looks damn good, so Chis has got to avoid getting KTFO whilst doing enough to pick up 7 rounds......

Well, based on more evidence of course?

I'm not a del boy fan, however he's only legitimately lost to the top guys and other than the last showing against Fury has done OK.  Whyte may be better, however to assume so based on only one notable fight with a 'possible' future champion that he probably wouldn't have even got to fight if it weren't for their history... I don't want to jump on some bandwagon just because he wobbled a guy with a good shot and lasted 7 rounds.  I give him a decent amount of credit and wouldn't be surprised if Whyte beat Chis at all, but he's not shown he's a different class. To be astounded by my comment is more astounding.    

He's looked awful both times out versus Fury and got wiped out by Haye. He's rep is based on not getting flattened by a geriatric faded Vitali.

He has no punching power and Whyte has a damn fine chin judging by Saturday, which Chisora doesn't look like he has anymore, so where are you seeing him eek out the win from??

quentins_monkey wrote:I think Chisora v Whyte would be a good matchup - would certainly give an indication as to what Del Boy has left, and also what level Whyte is at... would much prefer to see that than Joshua v Chisora...

Whyte versus Chisora - winner to get a/another crack at AJ.

Would be happy with that.

You're right, Toppy. Bookies would laugh at me if I put a bet on. No way in a million years could Chis beat the mighty Whyte. He went 7 rounds with AJ don't you know!!

DuransHorse wrote:You're right, Toppy. Bookies would laugh at me if I put a bet on. No way in a million years could Chis beat the mighty Whyte. He went 7 rounds with AJ don't you know!!

Not saying either are nailed on. Just not seeing what you are in Chisora. After Vit I would have said the same as you, but not based on the evidence of the last couple of years.

OK. My take is he was pushing Haye and as a Haye fan, that for once got a bet correct, I was concerned Chis was starting to have his moments when the KO came. I banked on Haye winning by KO in the first half because I felt Chisora would have the better engine going into the latter rounds. I can't mark Chisora down so much for Fury 2 now. Fury managed to pull out the same style and technique on a taller, more seasoned and skilled athlete and did it against the odds comfortably away from home. I'd back fury without hesitation to do a carbon copy on whyte. I don't think anyone notably shorter getting close to Fury for a while if he stays focused and dedicated and I think he'll win the Wlad rematch.

I think Whyte could prove to be quite a good fighter, better than chisora, but at this time he's not done enough to conclusively show he's able to beat guys around Chisora's level... but he may well do so in his next few fights and I'd like to see him do it.

Just saw this on Sky - Think Helenius would be a step in the right direction... Also add to the fact he's still unbeaten...

http://www.skysports.com/boxing/news/12040/10101455/anthony-joshua-may-fight-for-european-title-next-says-eddie-hearn

My biggest concern with AJ was the way he walked onto that left hook from Whyte. It wasn't even as if Whyte had to work for it. I suspect a fighter with better reflexes would make AJ pay a few times for that and it's something he needs to work on. He also looked flat footed at times and out of breath but these are also things he can work on. The problem with AJ is finding an opponent with genuine ambitions and not just one out to make a few quid. Chisora's already said he'll fight AJ but that it's got to make financial sense. I read that as Chis knowing he's the sacrificial lamb and wants to be well paid for taking a beating.

On paper, Chisora's a step up, in reality, he's not.

Good pick from Eddie. I'd much prefer to see Joshua in with Helenius (or Rill) than Chisora.

Jennings, Takam or Pulev next year after that.

Joshua will have to show more movement than he's had to so far if he's to beat Helenius. Would be too risky to go toe to toe. Would be good feather in Joshua's cap if he manages it though.

If this is on PPV though =/

If Joshua vs Whyte was PPV, I'd be amazed if he wasn't a PPV fighter permanently going forward. People will pay for it and Eddie likes a pound note.

I didn't realise helenius was back fighting... Assuming he wins his next fight it looks like decent matchmaking. He had a decent amateur record but looks like a plodding big lump on the pros...think Joshua would make fairly easy work of him to be honest.

...Unless he has Oliver mccall's chin, because he'll need it.