By Michael Malaszczyk: I can feel the anger down in the comments. And I’m okay with it.
When Oleksandr Usyk beat Anthony Joshua back in 2021, I wrote a column arguing that this was much worse for Joshua than his 2019 loss to Andy Ruiz. My rationale was that Joshua had been — as Geoffrey “Rummy” Ciani would say — thoroughly outboxed and outfoxed by Usyk.
Against Ruiz, Joshua was caught with a good shot in that third round and got concussed. He discovered in the following rounds that he could keep Ruiz at bay with a jab, but the damage was done, and Ruiz finished him off in Round 7. Joshua, despite losing, had the blueprint, and the answer was simple — exercise the rematch clause and box Ruiz’s ears off for 12 rounds. Joshua knew it, and plenty of fans knew it as well.
Against Usyk, Joshua simply had no answers. There was no blueprint, and Joshua truly looked defeated afterwards — no Instagram post saying “This is his night,” as he had done for Ruiz. Joshua tried everything he could for the rematch — but the rematch played out pretty much the same. Joshua had his moments in both fights, but Usyk was just better.
Joshua took a relatively easy comeback fight against an overmatched Jermaine Franklin last weekend. He won very clearly. But the hate is pouring on. Boxing fans and some pundits have made their views clear — Joshua is washed, and will never reach the peak of the heavyweight division again.
So my prediction was true. The loss to Usyk was far more devastating than the loss to Ruiz, and much harder for “A.J.” to come back from.
I did not appreciate Joshua’s attitude when the scorecards were announced in the rematch, and I think the fan behavior towards that was fairly justified. But now, I think Joshua deserves a break.
When Tyson Fury withdrew from the rematch with Wladimir Klitschko, everything was up in the air for heavyweight boxing. Deontay Wilder had a belt, but he wasn’t exactly a draw, and he was not eager to take dangerous fights at the time. Klitschko had ruled the division for years, and had a rematch clause with Fury — he deserved one last shot at glory. It was Joshua who gave him that shot. And it was Joshua who then retired the great Wladimir Klitschko. It was a thrilling fight that put eyes on Joshua and, more importantly, back on the heavyweight division.
From then on, in 2017, Joshua fought perennial contender Carlos Takam, and won. Fury remained out of the action. Around the same time, Wilder fought a rematch with Bermaine Stiverne, a fight that should never have been commissioned.
Fast forward to 2018, Joshua’s next fight was a unification with Joseph Parker, who was a respected champion holding the WBO belt. He won, adding another belt to his collection. To Wilder’s credit, he fought his first truly dangerous opponent in Luis Ortiz. But for the most part, Joshua was the better champion. Do you see any of Wilder’s ten title defenses, other than Ortiz and Fury, giving Joshua any trouble?
We now know, from Wilder’s own words, that Joshua offered Wilder a fight, which Wilder declined in what was possibly a cherry pick gone wrong against the returning Tyson Fury. While Wilder took that supposed-to-be-easy fight, Joshua fought the tough former champion Alexander Povetkin, and won by knockout.
This is where we get to Andy Ruiz, and we know how it goes from there. The point is, Joshua does not deserve the hate he is currently receiving. He lost humiliatingly to Ruiz, but came back strong. He holds wins over Wladimir Klitschko, Alexander Povetkin, Joseph Parker, and Andy Ruiz. He has a supporting cast of some solid contenders as well, including Charles Martin and Kubrat Pulev. He has two losses, both of which were valiant efforts, to Usyk. Given Usyk’s own greatness, there should be no shame in those.
And yet, while Fury has made every excuse in the book to not fight Usyk, and as Wilder remains in a state of total denial about his two losses to Fury, it’s somehow Joshua receiving the hate.
When you are the top guy, hate is going to come your way. It’s inevitable. Joshua was the clear number one for a few years, and a lot of people were not buying it and saw the flaws. I get it. Clearly, many of those flaws were real, and came to light against both Ruiz and Usyk.
What I don’t get is the total writing off of Joshua. Many are giving Joshua no chance against any other top heavyweight. I suppose no result other than an early knockout of Franklin would have gotten Joshua a shred of respect, but he won the fight. I do not feel that Joshua should be judged too harshly for playing it safe to get the win coming off of back-to-back losses.
He has beaten three guys currently in The Ring Magazine’s top 10 in Ruiz, Parker, and Whyte. Joshua put eyes back on heavyweight boxing when he had a war with Wladimir Klitschko.
Deontay Wilder got demolished by a fit and focused Tyson Fury in their second fight. He gave a valiant effort in the trilogy fight, but other than a few Hail Mary shots that put Fury down, it was also a Fury beatdown of Wilder. But people still believed in Wilder, and they still do now. That’s because we can see what Wilder brings to the table, as a huge heavyweight with a monster right hand, and it would be ridiculous to write off a former champion with those attributes.
Joshua still brings a lot to the table. He has good boxing skills, and he hits hard. Being less skilled than a master boxer like Oleksandr Usyk doesn’t change that.
Fury, Wilder, and maybe Joe Joyce should be favored against Joshua — sure. But to write him off completely, and pour on the hate that a former two time champion has no chance going forward, is simply wrong. In fact, I would argue that this kind of fan attitude towards a fighter like Joshua is what would encourage him to take easy fights and wait for a title shot… which is exactly the kind of thing fans would also complain about.
Give Anthony Joshua a break. He’s not finished yet.