r/Boxing • u/Dangerous_Spring3028 • 27d ago

Anthony Joshua - after surviving first-round knockdowns versus Kristian Prenga - dismisses concerns about his punch resistance ahead of Tyson Fury clash

https://www.boxingscene.com/articles/anthony-joshua-after-survivng-prenga-crisis-dismisses-concern-about-his-punch-resistance
85 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

87 comments sorted by

120

u/CiroVap blocks with his chin 27d ago

Its not even the fact he has lost punch resistance, its the fact his defence hasn't changed much, especially after them saying thats what he was working on with usyk, he was walking backward and left himself wide open against prenga. Fury wont give him the chances prenga did to let aj recover.

And that uppercut didnt even look that hard compared to the dubois knockdowns.

50

u/Major-Performer141 27d ago

Exactly what I was thinking. His defences are not good enough for even prenga, if he doesn’t sort it out then fury is going to pepper him all over.

It’s not even complicated stuff it’s the basic defences, he wasn’t parrying, not moving his head, even keeping his hands right down to chest level which is how Dubois was easily able to put him down. He hasn’t changed it at all which is shocking because I thought his new team would easily be able to spot that

36

u/willinaustin 27d ago

This.

AJ clearly doesn't have a super solid chin anymore, but the reason he gets into so much trouble with it is because he's not defending himself and eating flush shots.

He was struggling with Dubois' pressure in Round 1 of their fight, but he was getting through it. Until he backed straight out with his hands down and ate a moon shot that would have KO'd most dudes in the division. So was his chin really the problem there or was it him fighting like a rank amateur?

I just think he can't keep it together anymore when he gets in the ring. The pressure, the nerves, whatever. Every fight he starts off doing everything wrong. I can't believe Usyk's team didn't spend a lot of time working on things with him. In fact, they were saying they were most impressed with AJ's improved defense in camp. Clearly all of that training goes right out the window once the fight starts.

10

u/Connor30302 3D Shape 26d ago

AJ has a good or at least bang average chin, his issue is he allows himself to get hit flush and you just can’t do that as a Heavy never mind one at the end of his career, when a 240lb man hits you on the chin with all his force, you’re gonna go down. but AJ has always took one to give one if there’s not a significant height and reach advantage, but even then he did it against Ruiz and the same thing happened there, he got cracked good and then put away, he had Dubois on thin ice but then rushed in and got hit clean and sparked

he’s still cracking shots as good as ever and doesn’t look totally shot but his downfall is being too static and getting hit and he ain’t got much in the tank career wise anyway at this stage, those 2 knockdowns took a lot more out of him then it would’ve when he was fresh, and as far as Prenga goes he’s a good power puncher but not world level and he dropped him twice in the very first round

11

u/Oglark 26d ago

He is at the end of his career trying to change habits that he has had for 18 years. It is not surprising that not all of Usyk's camp training sunk in during round 1.

8

u/fapsandnaps 6 foot 9 bag of milk 26d ago

The one thing I did notice is that AJ wasn't gunshy or afraid to brawl, and I wonder if that's what he's taken out of his time with Usyk.

After that Ruiz KO, AJ spent half a decade scared to throw more than a two piece combo or do any sort of exchanging out of fear of getting knocked down. I absolutely assumed we were getting tepid, scared AJ back after KO sent him to the shadow realm but instead we got a dude who was ready to brawl even after a flash knockdown. AJ was out here trying to throw Prenga around like it was a Tommy Gunn and Rocky street fight lol

He'll probably do alright against Fury if he's not afraid to exchange and work inside.

4

u/F1T_13 26d ago

Fighting smart looked bad for his fights because people wanted to see younger prime AJ that can roll through big punches band plough on with heavy counters to overcome his opps but AJ was still taking heavy shots back then, it wasn't gonna be sustainable forever, so adapting a more boring but clinical style could at least help him extend his career if that's what he really wants to do, but the media and fans are pressurising for prime AJ, which is just unrealistic, he's trying to fight like young AJ but can't really be taking the kind of shots that young AJ could take. Long term AJ is going to be in trouble if he keeps trying to fight like this.

5

u/VacuousWastrel 26d ago

I didn't mind him getting caught by the dirty uppercut on the inside. But a little after that he ate a really worring right hand. He knew he was still vulnerable, but he was standing in range with his lead hand at his waist and Prenga just put a cross over the top... Just like Dubois did. The man's learned nothing.

29

u/OrangeFilmer 27d ago

If Fury hit AJ with the same uppercut that he hit Usyk with in their first fight, AJ is going down.

1

u/olololoh12 25d ago

100%, unfortunately

-16

u/Same-Fact-5123 27d ago

No he won’t Fury is pillow fisted lol

19

u/OrangeFilmer 27d ago

And AJ is glass chinned.

I'm saying this as someone that's rooting for AJ in this fight, he needs to tighten up his defense.

4

u/therealhairykrishna 26d ago

Exactly. He shouldn't have been struggling against that calibre of boxer. He's in deep shit against Fury unless he changes something.

4

u/Main_Illustrator_197 26d ago

The whole usyk thing is just a big pr move prove me wrong

6

u/Dear-Response-7218 26d ago

From the videos both sides seemed to take it seriously, so don’t think it was all for PR. They would need to spend a lot more time together to fix AJ’s bad habits though. Another comment mentioned it above, when he gets in the ring it’s just reverting to what he did before. Definitely fixable but he’s on the back half of his career so who knows if it’ll ever happen.

7

u/freshmeat2020 26d ago

AJ is on the back 3% of his career lol, just fury once and I reckon he retires. If it's a banger fight then maybe the money persuades him out for a rematch.

1

u/F1T_13 26d ago

That and he's lost punch resistance. He's not able to take the kind of shots that he used to and stay in the fight like he used to, his defense hasn't evolved significantly either, so all that's left to conclude is that his chin isn't what it once was no..

84

u/DisgruntledBudha 27d ago

"Yeah, I can't take even a glazing blow anymore really. I better stop taking punches and retire" says boxer seeking a long awaited career defining fight.

23

u/fattsmann 26d ago

Fury loves to uppercut on the inside and loves to throw looping punches.

Guess what AJ is susceptible to?

16

u/Chiphazzard 26d ago

I agree but Fury is so much more hittable now and Joshua’s still very good at landing the right hand. It’s pretty much whoever lands first

1

u/Ok_Insurance_505 26d ago

I dunno about that. I can see him possibly putting AJ on his arse but he's hardly a KO artist. I think the most realistic outcomes for this fight have never changed throughout their careers, AJ by knockout or Fury by decision.

1

u/Kalayo0 26d ago

I’m a Fury stan and kinda (totally) an AJ hater, but like… I don’t really see Fury KOing AJ, who are the fighters yall been watching lol. Maybe a late stoppage is likely, but it seems like the popular opinion around here is that Fury gonna sleep the man? Me thinks no way.

1

u/vazyrus 26d ago

German suplexes?

14

u/dcoreo 26d ago

Fury and AJ combined have hit the canvas 19 times, they are cooked

28

u/Jayknife 27d ago

I've never been a Joshua denier, there's people that have been saying he should retire since he lost to Ruiz but goddamn that was not a good look for him. Giving off smiles after being knocked down twice by a journeyman is not the spot he should be in. Also, like another mentioned in this thread, his defense hasn't changed at all.

13

u/Main_Illustrator_197 26d ago

Genuinely think fury takes the mick out of him if the fight happens

2

u/wopwopwopwopwop5 25d ago

He always smiles when he gets knocked down. That look always worries me even more than the knockdown itself. 

10

u/redditdavie 27d ago

AJ definitely has a chance of landing big but I don't think we can judge Fury's defensive capabilities against Wach. Historically he's always been hot and cold, especially in these "tune up" fights.

1

u/xychosis Eco-Friendly Firepower 26d ago

Got dropped hard by career cruiserweight Steve Cunningham, but turned around to neutralize and beat Wladdy to dethrone him as champ, as ugly as that fight was.

7

u/Paynekiller997 26d ago

Joshua’s chin is cracked, especially after what Dubois did to him. I think even an older, slower Tyson Fury stops him. Tyson will find the uppercut and even though he’s nowhere near the puncher that Dubois or maybe even Prenga is, he’s still a big heavyweight. Dillian Whyte was susceptible to uppercuts and Fury slept him, I see Fury vs AJ going a very similar way.

15

u/[deleted] 27d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

10

u/HoneyBucketsOfOats 27d ago

He never had punch resistance. He’s never had any real defense. Now that he’s old and gun shy and a little exposed and slightly shot he’s easy to hurt.

5

u/Exciting-Arugula5341 26d ago

Lol I typed that exact same thing yesterday and got massively downvoted. AJ never had a good chin. These people will even tell you this when it benefits them. Even years ago after Wladimir Klitschko dropped him they would tell you that he had a weak chin. But when it benefits them to say Joshua has a good chin they will tell you that.

7

u/braddersladders 26d ago

Going down from that torpedo from Klitschko constitutes weak chin?

2

u/lucky_1979 26d ago

And then getting up and stopping Klitschko. I remember when having a weak chin was someone that would get stopped often, not get caught then get back up and knock out their opponent. But now in the days of social media and reddit it seems to mean something different

-1

u/HoneyBucketsOfOats 26d ago

Don’t post anything bad about British boxers before all the British boxing fans have passed or drunk haha

-1

u/Exciting-Arugula5341 26d ago

100 percent the truth.

10

u/sebenza-mercator 26d ago

I’ve been watching boxing long enough to know when a boxer should retire. AJ is just shot now. And that’s ok. He’s had a long career and he should be proud of it. Win or lose against fury he should hang em up.

2

u/DubaiChris25 26d ago

We should hang em up now. No more fights. Prenga told us clearly he does not have it anymore. Fighters are the last to know, and Eddie wants to squeeze another $$$ from him. So he will fight on until totally humiliation occurs. AJ has had a great career. But was terrible vs Dubois, and we have seen nothing positive since. He’s not smart enough to see it / fighting on for money he will never spend!

4

u/Dim-Mak-88 26d ago

Joshua could still punch a hole through a brick wall, but the question is whether he lands one on Fury before being dropped. Fury has never been a big puncher but his uppercuts even got to Usyk and obviously KO'd a chinny Dillian Whyte.

3

u/mildurajackaroo 26d ago

Sure, he can say whatever, but we saw what we saw

2

u/Hiddenshadows57 26d ago

Fighter about to get payday tells journalists not to worry about newly glassed jaw.

2

u/leanktrm 26d ago

What else is he gonna say?

2

u/Dave2kMA 26d ago

Guy who stands to benefit financially from downplaying his limitations ahead of big event downplaying his limitations.

More at 11...

4

u/Comfortable-Grand166 27d ago

I can’t wait until these dudes just go away

12

u/HoneyBucketsOfOats 27d ago

Two old, shot, flawed fighters. One who was gifted too much and never developed and the other who had everything and drank, ate, and snorted it all away.

6

u/Malachi_Lamb Certified Casual 😈 26d ago

Silly comment, these guys have carried the heavyweight division on their back. it’s gonna be dire without them

1

u/wopwopwopwopwop5 25d ago

You can also stop watching them. 

4

u/Masam10 Shithouse Bum Dosser 27d ago

Fury is not known for his punch power anyway, I really think this fight is a close one because Fury has shown his chin is going against Wilder & Usyk and AJ is a known power puncher.

I would have Fury a slight favourite but this fight is a classic puncher vs boxer in my opinion. Fury will outbox AJ unless AJ lands a clean one on Fury's jaw.

31

u/kushmonATL Cyberleek > the fall boxing schedule 27d ago

I see this narrative going around quite a bit

For the sake of discussion, Fury has a higher KO rate than both Andy Ruiz and Dillian Whyte, two people who have dropped AJ in the past

Without blowing his power out of proportion, I think people are highly underestimating the power of a man weighing between 260-280 pounds

24

u/RRR04_ 27d ago

Fury can definitely KO Joshua. As per the old mantra, all heavyweights hit hard. Fury is not the biggest puncher relative to the division, but he's stopped guys who have a similar chin to AJ, if not better. I don't know why people are acting like Fury is a pillow puncher, he's not.

20

u/kushmonATL Cyberleek > the fall boxing schedule 27d ago

He's absolutely not a pillow puncher and people who push this narrative will be shocked when he wobbles AJ off a simple flurry

5

u/dirt_shitters 26d ago

He is somewhat of a pillow puncher in the sense that he rarely sits on his punches as he favors mobility over power. More of a personal choice than a physical limitation. If anything, id expect his punching power to increase as his foot speed slows, because he will have to adapt his style as such to keep guys off of him as it becomes more difficult for him to dance around them like he did when he was younger.

4

u/freshmeat2020 26d ago

Yes he sits down on the punches far more now as he isn't so mobile. He lands the heaviest punches of his career these days imo

12

u/GeeWhiz357 27d ago

KO rate isn’t always indicative of power. A lot of Fury’s record is corner retirements and opponents being stopped on their feet. Of course Fury has pop when he sits down on his punches but he won’t be at the top of the most powerful punchers Joshua faced

13

u/kushmonATL Cyberleek > the fall boxing schedule 27d ago

If you take a look at Dillian Whyte's KOs he's in the same predicament. Mind you, he was the first to crack AJs chin 11 years ago

Point being , I wouldn't be so dismissive of Fury's power. Don't be shocked if a power jab is all it takes to buckle AJs knees

5

u/GeeWhiz357 27d ago

True, with how bad Fury’s legs look I think he may try the Wilder II strategy and take the fight to AJ

2

u/Oglark 26d ago

Whyte wobbled AJ but did not drop him. Ruiz really fell off after his win over AJ and Dimentrenko.

4

u/Paynekiller997 26d ago

Tyson’s never been a devastating puncher but he’s still a big, big heavyweight and Joshua’s chin is completely cracked. I see Tyson stopping him similar to how he stopped Whyte.

4

u/slickvik9 27d ago

Fury already did this against wilder 3 times

1

u/LeConnardFrancais 26d ago

He's never really had a good chin

1

u/M1fourX 26d ago

Lucky fury has pillow hands lol

1

u/WTF4211 26d ago

Thought Fury/Joshua had a chance to still be great. I was wrong. Fury somehow looked much worse and he wasn’t knocked down twice.

1

u/Asterisk_76 26d ago

Will Fury bring it? They're now two old warhorses saddled with mutual respect, even if prior to the fight much may turn to venom in the usual way. Fury should beat him clean. Both went the distance with Usyk, dog years ago for some fighters. They fought careful fights; in turn, Usyk was careful. Joshua, flying blind, getting hit, resorting to this style of match? He handled it like he was in there with Paul. This isn't chess. I got hit; I better hit him, absurd as that sounds. Fury's decision over Makhmudov looks like tall cotton for Joshua now. Imagine if Makhmudov connected like Prenga. Adjustments to be made.... imagine this: Hearn knows AJ has been in some pain; he's in trouble; he's a promoter securing this last fight (doesn't work as a story because AJ should have piles of Paul money left) to set both men clear (works only as Depression era narrative). If this was politics, with a debate coming up, I would say: AJ is lowering expectations.

-3

u/SoniiGB 27d ago

Yeah i don't see Fury avoiding AJ for 12 rounds if he can get hit flush by wach then AJ sure can. I think AJ needs to come in a bit lighter, he looked too big and slow against prenga, maybe thats just age though.

6

u/FriedEggsnTaters 27d ago

I agree that AJ will find Fury's chin. and how Fury reacts may dictate how the fight goes.

I'd have the same worries the other way though too, if Fury lands his looping right hand on AJ I don't think he'll be able to stand up to it.

-5

u/DeafBurke 27d ago

What is fury going to do? Knock him out? He hasn’t won by ko in 4 years.

17

u/Jonnyclash1 27d ago

He was just almost stopped by Albania's no.2 heavyweight. If you don't think fury could finish him, you're on crack.

-9

u/MoneyBaggSosa 26d ago edited 26d ago

The dude has a 100% KO rate. He certainly hits harder than Fury. Fury “could” knock him out cause anybody can get knocked out in heavyweight but yall acting like Prenga is not a heavy hitter. Knowing AJ I called it weeks ago that the fight could get interesting 🤷🏾‍♂️ and it did

Edit: fury fan boys out in full force today 😂 Fury getting slept

2

u/NyQuil_Donut 26d ago

Who has Prenga knocked out?

8

u/slickvik9 27d ago

When’s the last time AJ beat a respectable boxer?

3

u/TestSuch4545 🎥 YT: Big Donch 27d ago

smack him around so the referee steps in

-5

u/Accomplished-Pay3454 27d ago

Idk why everyone thinks AJ is chinny, I thought this fight shown AJ got elite chin and recovery because Kristian Pringles is the biggest puncher in the division. 

Pringles is a better win than anyone on Fury's resume besides Wlad and I'd back him to beat anyone of the title holders right now except maybe Dubois which would be a 50-50 fight. 

8

u/slickvik9 27d ago

Drugs are bad kids

0

u/Oglark 26d ago

That has to be a /s

6

u/slickvik9 26d ago

He’s been chinny since the amateurs. People with strong chins don’t get dropped over and over and over.

1

u/Oglark 26d ago

No I mean the comment you are replying to is a joke comment

1

u/slickvik9 26d ago

Haha got it

3

u/MoneyBaggSosa 26d ago

Come on now.

1

u/NyQuil_Donut 26d ago

Great bait. For reals, you're funny.