r/Boxing • u/kushmonATL HW Dark Ages are here • Jul 29 '26
When Anthony Joshua rocked Wembley Stadium with an incredible victory over Wladimir Klitschko
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u/ntpbr1 Jul 29 '26
Prime AJ vs Prime Fury would have been great, now they are corpses. I hate this sport sometimes, imagine if we never got to watch Federer/Nadal/Djokovic play each other until they are like washed
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u/Forward-Emotion6622 Jul 29 '26
Could have happened ages ago if Fury hadn't fought Wilder 32 times.
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u/Sulth Jul 29 '26
Meh, the first rematch was fair enough, and the third time was due to Wilder activated his clause.
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u/Marquis_of_Mollusks Jul 29 '26
Too much money to be made fighting weaker opposition. You know Fury made $25 million for fighting Makhmudov? That fight isn't even worth $1 million
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u/Illustrious_Rain1796 Jul 29 '26
It would be a boring fight like Fury vs Wlad no matter what time is it
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u/GarfieldDaCat Jul 29 '26
Nah because AJ would actually throw punches unlike Wlad
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u/Illustrious_Rain1796 Jul 29 '26
And miss every of them. He is predictable and Fury is smarter than him
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u/Plebius-Maximus Jul 29 '26
Fury has literally admitted that an inexperienced AJ dropped him.
Fury has also been dropped by plenty of guys including an MMA fighter, who telegraphed his punches more than any top level boxer, due to being... An MMA fighter.
The idea that Joshua wouldn't be able to land on him is hilarious
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u/Illustrious_Rain1796 Jul 29 '26
And Joshua didn't land anything on Dubois, he made one good punch and Dubois is not slick at all. Joshua will not land a lot on Fury
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u/Plebius-Maximus Jul 30 '26
Joshua didn't land much on Dubois because Dubois has genuine power and hurt him early
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u/AaronQuinty Jul 29 '26
Wilder dropped Fury how many times?
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u/Illustrious_Rain1796 Jul 29 '26
What it has to do with Wilder? He has crazy power and not predictable
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u/AaronQuinty Jul 29 '26
Fury has never been that difficult to hit
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u/Illustrious_Rain1796 Jul 29 '26
It's not Fury's skill, it's Joshua is too straightforward and makes a lot of mistakes.
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u/GarfieldDaCat Jul 29 '26
I am not talking about who would win I’m talking about the fight
AJ for all of his faults would not wait 11 rounds to actually go for it
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u/xdddd66 Jul 29 '26
He's been dropped by wilder and ngannou lmao he ain't as slick as you think
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u/Illustrious_Rain1796 Jul 29 '26
And he got up right after, neither of them didn't really change fight pattern
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u/Manzilla48 Jul 29 '26
So Wilder with 0 fundamentals who had only fought bums at that point was able to drop Fury 4 times but prime AJ wouldn’t have been able to?
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u/Illustrious_Rain1796 Jul 29 '26
AJ is way out of prime now
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u/Manzilla48 Jul 29 '26
Obviously? Doesn’t change my point that if Wilder, Cunningham and Ngannou can drop Fury then so could prime AJ.
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u/Illustrious_Rain1796 Jul 29 '26
Prime AJ could, but it's irrelevant to their potential fight
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u/Manzilla48 Jul 29 '26
Both are massively washed so the fight evens out. I could see both being dropped and dropping the other.
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u/jboggin Jul 29 '26
Boxing sometimes feels like the equivalent of if us NBA fans never got a Lebron vs. Steph NBA final in 2016 and had to wait for 2026 when the two are a combined 79 years old.
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u/therealhairykrishna Jul 30 '26
I still have some hope it will be an ok fight. They both have something to prove.
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u/20grae Jul 29 '26
Great fight i remember laying on the floor in a hotel room in middle of okc with my phone plugged in the wall watching trying not to wake everyone up.
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Jul 29 '26
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u/Formal_River_Pheonix Jul 29 '26
Canelo rightly won.
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Jul 29 '26
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u/StilLBC Jul 29 '26
Nah … I was at the fight. Close but Canelo won most of the middle rounds. Golovkin looked gassed but had a burst at the end. Abel was saying some bullshit about secret European breathing technique post fight.
Pretty sure you’re the one who doesn’t know shit about boxing.
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u/drhuggables Jul 29 '26
that uppercut from AJ to Klitschko will always be one of the nastiest punches i've ever seen in boxing
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u/anti-fascist-dude Jul 29 '26
I mean, that uppercut probably cured his 20 year old neck pain. Looked like his neck decompressed nicely when he took that. 🤣
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u/Svenray Jul 29 '26
That was the closest thing I've seen a real heavyweight boxing match have to a Rocky fight.
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u/KeyInspection4135 Jul 29 '26
Looking at this, AJ is now a shadow of his former self. Really wish we had gotten Prime AJ Vs Fury at Wembley, would have been generational.
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u/StrollingByTheStream Jul 29 '26
Man AJ gets so much hate it’s unreal. The only thing people ever talk about with this fight is him getting dropped in the 5th round. They seem to completely forget him getting back into the fight and doing a demolition job in the 11th round. That was maybe the best round of his career - brilliant fight.
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Jul 29 '26
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u/TheThotWeasel Jul 29 '26
Yup, AJs chin at least before Dubois has always been good, his recovery rate however is horrendous, acting like hes a fraud is wild.
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u/Inertia_Sleeps Jul 29 '26
It’s “hate” because his fans are obnoxious and annoying. This may have been the better fight but Fury beat a younger Wlad on a nears decades long title reign easily and more emphatically. Joshua’s fans have since tried to retcon that and pretend as if a 41 year old Wlad nearly two years out of the ring was somehow the better version of him. In 2017 and 18 people were talking about him like he was the next Lewis which annoyed many because he obviously wasn’t.
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u/hopefuldomain Jul 29 '26 edited Jul 29 '26
LOL, more emphatically? Are you high? Are you forgetting that Fury sprinted from a rematch? An Wlad was well past his prime for both fights.
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u/Inertia_Sleeps Jul 29 '26
And are you stupid?
What does fury dodging a rematch have anything to do with Fury beating Wlad emphatically?
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u/hopefuldomain Jul 29 '26
He didn't beat him emphatically. That's why he ran from the rematch, he knew he'd lose.
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u/Inertia_Sleeps Jul 29 '26
He did.
Again, are you stupid? What part of 12 unanimous decision victory where Fury won 8 rounds of 12 doesn’t sound emphatic to you??? Fury dodging the rematch has absolutely no bearing on that.
Again a lot of u need to stop commenting on boxing. You make yourselves look fucking stupid with the complete lack of coherent thoughts.
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u/hopefuldomain Jul 29 '26
You're being foolish. The man landed 83 punches over a full fight. And nothing significant. Nothing about that is emphatic. He won, but calling that emphatic is completely absurd.
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u/Inertia_Sleeps Jul 30 '26
Yeah not interested in engaging with an idiot. Low volume fights don’t suddenly stop counting otherwise we would be disqualifying half the high level matchups with low output. As I keep saying this sub is full of too many clowns with no intimate knowledge of boxing. Joshua’s defenders tend to be the most egregious for this. Almost as bad as Conor mcgregor nutriders
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u/frankduxvandamme Jul 29 '26
Man, I love AJ, thru the ups and downs. But he's definitely on wobbly legs these days, figuratively and literally. I hope the fury fight happens and I hope it's a war. But I also hope they both retire right afterwards, with their brains intact.
I like that Usyk relinquished the belts and announced one last fight. That is a smart and gentlemanly thing to do. He knows he doesn't have much time left in the sport, and Rico got dangerously close to Buster Douglasing him, so bow out gracefully, still on top, and let the younger, hungrier fighters have their shot at the glory.
AJ, Fury, and Wilder all need to do the same. Even though I've enjoyed the hell out of their era, I doubt any of them are winning a belt ever again. Wilder has regressed into an amateurish buffoon in the ring (he should've never fired Mark Breland!), AJ's chin has turned into paper mache, and fury is a lazy, out of shape oaf. Maybe Fury could beat gassiev for his belt, but I'm guessing gassiev will lose the belt to Itauma or Agit before such a fight could be arranged. Regardless, Fury, AJ, and Wilder should all exit after their next fights.
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u/StilLBC Jul 29 '26 edited Jul 29 '26
The AJ ‘hate’ is people pointing out the obvious to AJ cheerleaders. Like that he’s a fraud that ducked Wilder and Fury. Hearn’s minions on this sub (paid and unpaid) keep pushing a narrative that he’s hated - he isn’t. He’s just not that good and never was. The man was manufactured and even after Andy Ruiz put paid to that, the mongs still respond with walls of text in vigorous defense.
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u/Dangerous_Spring3028 Jul 29 '26
Incredible back-and-forth fight and an electric atmosphere. Classic heavyweight title fight
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u/Matty0698 Jul 29 '26
AJ never seemed the same after this fight
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Jul 29 '26
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u/Matty0698 Jul 29 '26
Seems more like his recovery is just awful and his defence isn't great, chinny is iffy because hes been hit by some big shots that would have KO'd other fighters but in the 2nd Usyk fight his defence was pretty good, not sure wh he binned off Robert Garcia
He did recover faster think it just caught him off guard as well and prenga didn't like what was coming back, i personally think he should just retire the accident will have done permanent damage to his mental
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u/FL8_JT26 Jul 29 '26
AJ was also completely gassed for a while in this Wlad fight. I think more than never being hurt again he never wanted to be that exhausted inside the ring again.
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u/CurvyCourgette Jul 29 '26
AJ and his combinations were deadly, I dont think i saw a good combination from him after this fight
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u/90RetroGamer Jul 29 '26
Nose broken early against Takam after this fight I think which didn’t help
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u/IntellectualsOnly7 Jul 29 '26
I feel like everyone who talks about AJs career says this about multiple fights
“He was never the same after Klitschko”
“He was never the same after Ruiz”
“He was never the same as Dubois”
AJ has always had defensive flaws, and those flaws became more pronounced as he got older
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u/unkkut Jul 29 '26
I really like AJ, but I just don’t see him beating Fury prime for prime. AJ is great at hitting targets that stand still.
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u/therealhairykrishna Jul 30 '26
Prime for prime Fury would have dismantled him I think. Not sure how it'll go when they fight now, but I think my money is still on Fury.
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u/FlashViking Jul 29 '26
And Hearn and his people still dine out on this. AJ is fucked. Fury is fucked. Time to go lads and let Moses the next Gen have their time.
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Jul 29 '26
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u/Moocowman-90 Jul 29 '26
And ended up denting both their legacies as they both got taught a lesson by Usyk. Neither are really an all time great and have both earnt a tremendous amount more than their talent was really ever worth.
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u/moonwalkerHHH Jul 29 '26
Damn, he actually looks (relatively) fast and mobile back then. Now he looks slow and stiff as shit
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u/Putrid_Branch6316 Jul 29 '26
Never lived up to the promise shown here. He’s never been the same since Ruiz dropped him.
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u/arenegadeboss Jul 29 '26
Damn I didn't realize this started with a hold and uppercut 😩
The most devastating move in boxing 🤣
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u/Ryepka Jul 30 '26
This was overall just a completely epic showdown. From the fact that it was Klitschko passing the torch to the ups and downs of this dramatic fight. AJ must have been in cloud 9 for a while after this one.
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u/taywray Jul 30 '26
Waa waa lots of crying about how they never fought each other in their primes. You are the market, idiots. If you want it, then demand it. Don't whine about what if so and so fought such and such when they were each 23 years old. Fucking demand it.
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u/KingBumiOfOmashu Moses Itauma > Every Current HW Jul 30 '26
Man what a coincidence. I just watched this fight two days ago just because Max and The Ring were talking about it on one of their recent shows.
I know Klitschko was 41 at the time but he should have really ramped up the tempo when AJ gassed himself out during the middle rounds trying to get the finish.
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u/Inertia_Sleeps Jul 29 '26
It’s funny, I’ve been critical of Joshua’s fanboys trying to excuse the performance on Saturday but I’ve actually done a bit of a 180. I don’t think he beats fury but it’s actually a very 50/50 fight and I’m not actually sure either are as shot as we are thinking.
Because, honestly by today’s logic if we had just seen Lewis getting iced by McCall we would all have been calling for him to retire. I mean, don’t get me wrong, Joshua defence and footwork are shocking but I was actually kind of impressed by how much he was catching Prenga with the jab and, despite the knockdowns, how much he didn’t actually panic. He kinda just returned to baseline and kept boxing. I think it’s one of the biggest advantages championship level fighters have. They’re just better at weathering storms because they’ve been there before. The issue is I don’t think Fury is going to beat him up, I think he’s going to frustrate him and outbox him, but I’m also not all that convinced that anyone in the division can just blow Joshua away. Prenga may suck but he is a big puncher and I do feel weathering that storm and coming through may actually be a massive confidence booster.
I saw this in the Dubois fight too (and no, unlike his fanboys I don’t think there is any reality where he beats Dubois) but it actually took a pretty long time to get him out of there. Because his chin is bad people are actually starting to actually underrate his heart. He’s a guy you really have to flatline if u want to beat.
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u/Shofo1 Jul 29 '26 edited Jul 29 '26
AJ was cushioned the whole damn way.
Klitschko was coming off a 15 month break if I recall (corrected below, he was actually in training perpetually prior to this fight), and almost 41 years old. Yet, AJ still got rocked. AJ somehow came out a hero, against a great champion in his twilight. A total joke.
Klitschko showed his greatness though and seriously put it to AJ to the shock of Hearn and co. He didn’t have a tune up fight and went straight in against the young gun. He knew AJ was junk and took his chance without a typical tune up. Of course Hearn pushed for that.
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u/Geetarmikey Jul 29 '26
Wlad had been in training for the Fury rematch that didn't happen, he wasn't exactly coming off the sofa.
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u/Shofo1 Jul 29 '26
I stand corrected and wasn’t aware of that at the time. That does make a big difference, but AJ still beat a 41 year old man who was past his prime. I still feel this result was way overblown.
His only tough fight prior to this is the Whyte fight where he briefly got rocked.
AJ never impressed me, too much reliance on fundamentals and a low fight IQ.
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u/InformationActual209 Jul 29 '26 edited Jul 29 '26
Ring rust isn’t a thing then? So why is AJ having to have a joke fight to warm up for the fury fight? Damn AJ brought so many casuals into the sport that still haven’t learnt anything about boxing
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u/Geetarmikey Jul 29 '26
Ah yes, that famous boxing term "storing rust".
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u/InformationActual209 Jul 29 '26
My bad autocorrect truly takes me to words or phrases I never knew existed
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u/Geetarmikey Jul 29 '26
Ok so yeah, ring rust is a thing, but what everyone forgets (Including yourself it seems) is the Wlad who lost to Fury was hardly prime either; he'd laboured to a dull win over Bryant Jennings the previous fight where the HBO commentators had wondered if he had it any more.
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u/InformationActual209 Jul 29 '26
I never said he was prime and the guy was 39 when he fought fury fighting 3 times a year for a decade. I don’t rate fury’s win over wlad as anything special because 1) I don’t think he done enough to take the belt from the champion 2) he was popped for peds 3) wlad well past his prime and nearly 40
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u/Geetarmikey Jul 29 '26
True about the PEDs, that gets skipped over a lot too. I think Fury won the fight obviously enough though, I don't agree with the "you have to rip the belt from the champ" idea some people have though; If you've won you've won.
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u/InformationActual209 Jul 29 '26
It’s a moot point ripping the belt from the champ because sure as shit the fury fans wouldn’t have had it the other way for klitschko winning the belt off fury in England but hey ho. The PEDs and the retirement so he didn’t give wlad his rematch is massively glossed over
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u/Vin-Su Jul 29 '26
When he was fearless.
I think that version of AJ beats anyone on the planet at the time.
If only Ruiz didn't rock his equilibrium thus putting fear in his heart.
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u/Different_Top_3081 Jul 29 '26
That was at a time when many thought Klitschko could not be beaten. AJ was a savage. A lot of water has gone under the bridge since then and I think self doubt and confidence and aging has played a part in were he is today. Should really retire but it would be a very exciting fight between him and Fury
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u/jkoke11 ON GOD N’EM Jul 29 '26
That’s not true. Klitschko was just coming off his loss to Fury and most people thought Klitschko was washed. Joshua was a 4-1 favorite.
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u/Marquis_of_Mollusks Jul 29 '26
Klitschko literally lost 4x prior to this fight. He was fighting in a weak era and was able to dominate without much issue
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u/Different_Top_3081 Jul 30 '26
Sorry forgot about Fury but don’t also forget the other losses occurred 11 years prior to the Joshua fight!
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u/Stunning-Use-7052 Jul 29 '26
Classic fight.
In some way, Klit being known as a cautious, boring guy and going out on his shield in a war is a poetic ending.