Anthony Joshua v Robert Helenius

[Primo Carnera]

He hasn't stopped anyone for three years. Memphis is right there is some bizarre stuff going on but most of it is over thinking. He doesn't have the natural ring IQ of someone like Lennox or a great like Steward helping him to add layers to his game without dulling the edge of his most dangerous weapons.

Those couple of left jabs that got him close enough to finish the fight could have been employed much earlier to get into range but getting clipped by Ruiz and then out smarted by Uysk has left him a bit gunshy.

That said Wilder's reckless abandon puts him in the danger zone much more often and earlier than Helenius and Fury thinking he is way better than he actually is could similarly put him in the path of a way more devestating uppercut than the one he punched himself with.

He will never do enough to shut some of the boo boys up but if he stops Wilder...
If... It puts Fury's wins into a little more perspective and throws some sand into the big dossers porridge to make that fight a potential classic.

Joshua has over achieved and to his credit rematching the fighters that beat him has proved that Wilder and Fury have always been the cones in the road, whilst AJ and Uysk are getting their heads down and doing the job in front of them.

He will need a bit of luck or early success to give him the belief to get him close enough to stop Wilder but he has the fundamentals and tools to stop him spectacularly. Still a dice roll fight, but well worth the gamble, if only to leave 'greedy belly' with nowhere to hide.

Great post, and very true that Joshua is an over thinker. Also , he has a very savvy trainer in his corner, and they will have identified that the way to beat Wilder is by using better boxing fundamentals to keep Wilder cautious and then when he does lose patience or tires (which will happen) and he flies in all legs and arms , then Joshua can counter him and put him on the deck.
He could try to fight fire with fire, but that turns it into a 50/50 toss up and plays to Wilder’s lack of ringcraft.
This is not to say AJ is a great technical boxer, but he needs to trust his fundamentals . The overthinking comes because this is all new to him .
I happen to think fighting Helenius was a better warm up for Wilder than Whyte would’ve been . Helenius gave AJ technical problems to overcome , which he did and that will help his confidence grow. He’s also a similar height and reach and the punches will be coming at those angles.
Whyte , although will throw big overhead rights like Wilder does, he is slow and cumbersome and slightly shorter .
All in all , another step forward for Joshua.

[TitoFan]

https://www.boxing247.com/boxing-new...huas-ko/267245

Wilder Says Joshua’s KO Of Helenius Was “Needed” – Deontay Aims To Fight In October, Before “Knockout Of Joshua In January”



Nothing should get in the way of this fight now. It'll arguably be the most anticipated non-title heavyweight fight in recent memory.

[TIC]

i liked aj's use of his jab but he isn't the combination puncher he used to be

[Denilson3.0]

Watching the AJ-Helenuis fight - I gotta say I've seen more raw passion in a Kardashian sex tape.

AJ is the kind of guy who is heavily effected by any loss he takes and after 3 of them he is all over the place.

One thing I did notice is that AJ has lost his ability to counter punch

Look at the Charles Martin right hand counter he landed over Martins jab then look at the multiple opportunities he had to land a similar shot against Helenius. He attacks methodically with a jab to create openings now and defends. That means he's lost a step

I don't even put it down to mental weakness I think he's just lost some timing and can't react to shots the same way anymore

A Pre Wlad AJ takes Helenius out in 2. That Joshua's never coming back. Wlad was both the zenith and the destruction of his career. The place he had to go to overcome Wlad scared him.

TV host: AJ, what about fighting Deontay Wilder??

AJ :



You can't fight Wilder scared. One man is scared to pull the trigger, one man lives to pull the trigger. Greedy Belly showed the blue print. You've got to bring it to Wilder and be in his face. AJ will try and outbox Wilder, which is a disaster.

And AJ's celebration in the ring at the end was cringe. The DK sucking motion ? Takes a special man to look like a Greek god but be as awkward as David Brent.

I don’t get any impression from AJ that he enjoys boxing or fighting and once AJ retires I don't see him as a trainer or commentator or even be in the boxing business at all. I think he'll go in another direction and totally turn his back on boxing.

He can still be proud of himself, he was an Olympic gold medallist and even if not the best, one of the marquee heavyweights and biggest names of his generation. Has more money than he can spend. Not bad for a guy who started boxing 18.

[Memphis]

One thing I did notice is that AJ has lost his ability to counter punch

Look at the Charles Martin right hand counter he landed over Martins jab then look at the multiple opportunities he had to land a similar shot against Helenius.

I've stayed away from 'the old Joshua' comments for the most part because people generally want to see him treat a guy like Usyk the way he did someone like Breazeale, it's apples and oranges.

In Helenius case this is 100% fair game. He absolutely could have countered and you could see the openings come and go whilst Joshua did nothing. In fact you could see Joshua see the openings come and go. He absolutely could have thrown the fluid one two that flattened Zumbano Love so decisively but he wouldn't let it go. Instead, he did a terrible job of convincing himself that he was committed to it.

He talks a good game. Leave me alone, let me do my thing in here. I don't believe he is doing his thing at all and I don't believe he believes it either.

[Master]

AJ was marginally better this time and that must because of the work he has put in with his new trainer.

However he has had a major crisis of confidence and regressed since he fought Usyk. He is slowly building up his confidence but another fight before Wilder will not improve him enough to be certain he can beat Wilder.

I have always thought he can beat Wilder but do not know now. If AJ goes for the blow out he could get taken out by Wilder as he hesitates too much. If he boxes, waits for Wilder to tire and then take him out it risks AJ getting caught.

AJ wants another pay day and then face Wilder. Eddie looked very worried and will try and get another fight for him if he can.

Win or lose against Wilder, AJ will always have the fight with Tyson Fury in his back pocket. It will always sell.

AJ has 2 or 3 fights left in his career.

[Primo Carnera]

I can see the reason for this AJ “crisis of confidence” thing.
He has been made to doubt himself because He has been basically put in his box TWICE by Usyk.
He now knows he can’t beat Usyk.
But I see no reason to think he is concerned about fighting Wilder or Fury. I genuinely think he believes he has the beating of them, and anyone else apart from Usyk.
It would be very easy to walk away with all the money he’s got.
So why doesn’t he? Because he is “CONFIDENT” he can beat Wilder and Fury.
Wilder has ducked the fight previously, and been handed his ass on a plate by Fury.
Fury is fighting MMA guys instead of unifying belts against Usyk, despite Usyk accepting 30%.
And nobody, but nobody is questioning their “confidence or headspace.”
Can anyone see the hypocrisy yet?