Anthony Joshua:- Joshua has gotten a lot of stick from fans lately since his loss to Usyk that he doesn’t have that dog in him, the way he has behaved post-fight with Usyk, also the way he lost to Ruiz the 1st time around with some calling him even a quitter and doesn’t have that mental toughness which is needed to stay at the top. Thanks to social media, has added to this criticism. One of the major criticism is regarding his boxing style and how he has become more of a boxer-puncher since the Klitschko fight. He has had a lack of trust in his team and has changed coaches frequently. Feels like he is still trying to figure out which coach can help him the most. He has lost a lot of self-belief since the Usyk loss, he needs to accept Usyk as once a generational fighter who would make any heavyweights look ordinary and move on from that loss, trust his coach, believe in himself and turn to that older version of Joshua who was more of a puncher and believed in knocking opponents out rather than relying on skills to win a decision. Also, think of Joshua’s resume, he didn’t have to fight Usyk, he would have waited and fought Fury or Wilder and made a lot more money without taking the risk but he still did that. This move needs to be appreciated by us as fans to get more competitive fights. Look at the guys he has fought so far Klitschko, Pulev, Ruiz, Povetkin, Parker, Takam, and Whyte, the list is impressive.
What he has done for the heavyweight division is remarkable and should be given a lot more credit in terms of bringing attention to the division. He is one of the biggest PPV stars in boxing alongside Canelo. No disrespect to Klitschko but during his era when he was the champ, the heavyweight division was one of the worst divisions with no excitement. Had Joshua not been around, the popularity of the heavyweight division would not even be remotely close to being where it is right now.
Joshua can still rewrite his legacy. Joshua’s next focus should be on fighting Wilder. If he beats Wilder, he would then have something in common with Fury, names like Klitschko and Wilder and then his fight with Fury becomes even bigger. I know most fans think it’s not a close fight between him and Fury but I have always felt Joshua – Fury stylistically is a closer fight than Joshua – Usyk. Usyk was stylistically all wrong for Joshua whereas against Fury I think Joshua has a much better chance of beating Fury. Him beating Fury and Wilder would trigger a whole other conversation about where would Joshua rank amongst the current crops of heavyweights. Hence I feel it’s still up to Joshua to create his legacy and place his name amongst the greats of the past.
Tyson Fury:- It’s clear when it comes to who is the best heavyweight around. It’s either Fury or Usyk. Usyk might have the majority of the belts whereas Fury just holds the WBC, but he became the lineal heavyweight champion when he beat Klitschko and did the unthinkable when you consider Klitschko hadn’t lost in 11 years with his last loss coming against Brewster in 2004. Goes to show how dominant Klitschko was during his time. So when Fury outboxed Klitschko and became the lineal champ, it was not one of the most exciting fights to watch, with many fight fans even calling it as boring as hell, Fury did a job on Klitschko but not in a convincing way, he did enough to win.
After the win against Klitschko, Fury did have his problems due to which he was out of the ring for quite some time, but when he came back, you can call it a resurgence of a fighter. It is remarkable what he has able to achieve post his comeback. The way he fights completely changed, the fact that he was out for so long, came back and within a year fought Wilder for the 1st time and won but was robbed. Then went to destroy Wilder twice which you can call essentially went toe to toe with one of the hardest punchers in boxing history, which goes to show his mindset. There is a saying in boxing “a happy fighter is a dangerous fighter” and Fury is in that state right now. The fact that he has such a high boxing IQ, has extremely good conditioning and stamina, watch Wilder 1st fight – he was out of shape and was knocked out in the 12th round, but he came back and not only won the remaining round but also hurt Wilder in 12th with his own left hook. Which heavyweight is capable of switching stance other than Fury right now, none. His head movement is great, has very good hand speed and can punch. All these attributes of a person who weighs around 280 lbs goes to show how special Fury is as a fighter. Probably Usyk has similar attributes and skills but the fact that there is a huge difference between him and Fury in terms of weight could be a deciding factor when they fight.
Fury’s resume is stacked at the moment, but the list would be incomplete if he doesn’t fights guys Joshua and Usyk. He would probably be the favourite in those fights as well. Fury is considered by many as the best heavyweight right now and a p4p fighter however him beating names like Joshua and Usyk would then trigger a whole new debate of whether he is the best heavyweight of all time.
Oleksandr Usyk:- A generational genius, follow my blog Genius-of-oleksandr-usyk if you want to read in detail about what makes Usyk a genius. Usyk is rewriting history, with him fighting and beating Fury, there would not be much left for Usyk to prove. His legacies would be cemented. If he still chooses to continue fighting, there are some interesting matchups and money fights in Wilder or Joyce, which would just keep adding to his legacy. But in my opinion, him beating Fury if he does and already convincingly beating Joshua twice, there is not much left for Usyk. An undisputed cruiserweight and undisputed heavyweight, he could happily retire.
Deontay Wilder:- Wilder is considered one of the biggest and hardest punchers in boxing history and rightfully so. He has so many highlight reels during his career. Perhaps the power has been so significant in all his fights that his chin has hardly been tested and he hardly had to work on his boxing skills until he faced Fury. The way Wilder and his career are viewed pre and post-Fury fights are complete opposites. Pre-Fury fights it was between him and Joshua on who the best heavyweight was. Now he and Joshua are fighting to be 3rd best. Wilder and Joshua are at similar stages of their career. There has always been this debate about who has had a better resume between Wilder and Joshua. Fury has always stated Wilder is the 2nd best heavyweight on the planet. The advantage for Joshua is he still has a few years left in him, whereas Wilder is already 37 years old, and to add to that the kind of beating he took against Fury on multiple occasions, we never know what’s left in the tank for Wilder. The only fight that makes sense for Wilder is the Joshua fight, still, a huge PPV fight, would sell out a stadium and everyone knows the outcome of that fight, it ain’t going the distance, someone is going to sleep. He needs to train as hard as he can and treat this as the last few training camps of his career, work on his conditioning which he needs to work on the most which was one of the major factors during his loss against Fury and try to knock Joshua out. This would improve Wilder’s resume and how fans remember him.
Andy Ruiz:- There are few heavyweights in this era, who are slept on when it comes to skills and Ruiz is probably one of them. Has the fastest hands when it comes to the heavyweight division in my opinion. His style is fan-friendly. Every time I have seen him hurt like the 1st Joshua fight or be it Ortiz or Arreola fight, he comes back with all guns blazing seeking revenge. His win against Joshua is considered one of the biggest upsets in boxing history. But I don’t see that as an upset. Ruiz was always skilled, he just wasn’t mainstream or known to let’s say the casuals due to which people would have not heard his name but those in boxing circuits knew what Ruiz was capable of. Evander Holyfield has this to say when he sparred with a young 19-year-old Andy Ruiz
Andy Ruiz Jr. really can fight. He has fast hands and can really hit hard. But don’t nobody seem to know it.
And that was the case until he stopped Joshua in 1st fight. That’s when people noticed Ruiz’s skills. But since that Joshua win, Ruiz’s career hasn’t taken off the way it should have. He lost in the rematch to Joshua with him admitting mishandling fame and fortune cost him the fight. Since his loss to Joshua in a rematch in 2019, he has fought only twice and won both of them with it being an exciting fight but it shows how inactive he has been. He needs to start fighting again on regular basis. There are talks of him fighting Wilder next. It would be an excellent fight for both guys but a very dangerous fight for Ruiz. He gets hit a lot and once he gets hit, that’s when he excels. He cannot repeat the same mistake against Wilder because he wouldn’t beat the count if Wilder lands clean. So he needs to be careful but irrespective it would be a great night of boxing. There are many other great fights out there for Ruiz with Fury, Usyk, Wilder and Joyce all being possible options. Just get busy and fight as many big names as possible, because he has the potential to cause a lot of upsets on his day.
Joe Joyce:- If there was an award being handed out for the strongest chin in the heavyweight division, it would go to Joe Joyce. There is a reason his nickname is called “The Juggernaut”. Fury calls Joyce “world’s toughest man” that’s a compliment of the highest nature. Despite that Joyce hasn’t faced the likes of Fury, Joshua, Wilder, Ruiz or any big names. His recent big win was against an upcoming heavyweight prospect and the next big thing in heavyweight in Dubois. This is one of the fights where we saw what Joyce’s chin was made of. He just was too strong and relentless which is what led to him winning. His win against Parker again showed why Joyce has that nickname The Juggernaut. He has flaws when it comes to his boxing style. He has extremely slow feet, doesn’t move his head, and doesn’t have fast hands but because of his durable chin and punching power, he gets the job done. That’s why some fighters like Usyk of Fury who has superior skills would dance circles around him and would beat him with Usyk had already done that in amateurs. However certain fights like Joshua or Wilder are where I think Joyce has a very good chance of beating that style. He is already 37 years old, he turned pro very late at age 31, so time is running out for him, with fighters not ready to fight Joyce due to High Risk and Low reward, he has not able able to get the kind of fights he would have loved. Hope he fights guys like Fury, Wilder and Joshua before he hangs the gloves up. It would be interesting to see his toughness against a Fury skill or Wilder’s power or Joshua’s speed and power.
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