Saturday exposed the Joshua hype for what it is... hype. Don’t get me wrong Joshua is a fantastic prospect but all this talk of him being able to beat anyone in the division right now is absolute garbage, Joshua isn’t ready for Fury, Klitchsklo, Povetkin or even Wilder at the moment. His defence needs alot of work, his head movement needs to improve and footwork isn’t perfect either. On the plus side although his chin isn’t made of kryptonite he did show superb powers of recovery after the second round.
This was Joshua’s 15th fight and probably the only one he has learnt anything from, I hope Hearn puts him in with some more game fighters like Whyte and not knock down jobs but with the hype train that surrounds Joshua Hearn knows he can stick him in with pretty much anyone and the casuals will still lap it up. I suspect a shot Derek Chisora in April will be next and the Sky hype machine will ensure that it is presented as if it is a meaningful fight for AJ.
He has no experience fighting at that level, I agree the top boys are faaar better than he is currently. They are a whole different level. But, they all had to walk the path that AJ is currently walking, and AJ is doing it as well any of the top dogs did.
People are pretending that AJ didn't dominate the fight, fair play to Whyte though he's got a hell of a chin on him.
Joshua gassed himself trying to end it in 1 round for the bragging rights. I think if the first round was more competitive, he would have been pacing himself better. When you think you've won, and your opponent is wobbling, it's easy to stop throwing jabs, to stop boxing, to stop moving, and just throw power shots. That's essentially what Joshua was doing from about 1 minute into the first round. That's why he gassed in the 2nd. From round 3 on, he was always in control. He boxed, he learned a lot about himself.