By Sam Volz: Stephen Edwards believes that the crazy, savage approach that Deontay Wilder takes to fighting gives him an edge over Anthony Joshua.
Edwards feels that Joshua has been negatively affected by some of the things that have happened to him since his fight with Wladimir Klitschko, and there are remnants left behind, causing AJ to overthink inside the ring, making him gunshy.
In contrast, Edwards notes that Wilder isn’t affected by his setbacks and comes straight ahead in a “savage” manner without being inhibited by the memories of his failures the way Joshua has. In other words, Wilder is more suited to combat than Joshua.
If AJ were in the military, he would be more suited to being an officer in the rear, safe from harm, not worrying about getting blown apart by shells, while Wilder would be a frontline soldier, taking the point to lead the platoon or squad on the attack.
Wilder crazy in a good way
“At one time, I thought Anthony Joshua was heading to the Hall of Fame. I was really impressed with his punch selection and everything he did, everything about him,” said Stephen Edwards to Fighthype.
“In that Klitschko fight, he took that big right hand and came back and won the fight by stoppage. I really don’t know what happened, though. I don’t think it’s a physical thing, but Deontay is crazy.”
One could argue that the Klitschko fight seemed to be a turning point in Joshua’s career. Before that fight, Joshua was walking through his opposition with combinations, blowing them out quickly. With that thousand-yard stare that Joshua has, he’s seen too much.
But after the fight with Wladimir in which AJ hit the deck and easily could have been finished off, he changed mentally and become timid & overly cautious.
You can understand why Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn is in such a hurry to match him against Wilder & Tyson Fury.
Hearn can obviously see the mental deterioration that has occurred with the 33-year-old Joshua after just ten years in the pro ranks, and he knows that he only has a few fights left in him.
He even admitted that old Joshua wouldn’t be returning, and the current, cautious one that has taken his place is here to stay permanently. It’s almost like a soldier with PTSD, who is longer suited for frontline combat, needs help and constant monitoring.
“He’s crazy in a good way. He just goes after [his opponents]. Him getting knocked out or losing, it doesn’t affect him; it doesn’t bother him,” said Edwards about Wilder. “He doesn’t have any remnants of being gunshy. He doesn’t have any remnants of being careful.”
Wilder is made for fighting and is a traditional soldier that would have been perfect for any war. Another Audie Murphy type, who thrives in battle.
“I think Anthony is a talented fighter, but I think he’s an overthinker,” said Edwards. “He’s always thinking, and that comes back to bite you. That comes back as a fighter. I just don’t know if he’s going to be mentally up for that kind of fight dealing with a savage like Deontay because Deontay is savage.”
Joshua is paralyzed with fear and unable to move forward unless he’s dead sure that there’s no risk of him catching a countershot from his opponents.
In AJ’s last fight against 39-year-old Robert Helenius, we saw that he didn’t throw his right hand with conviction until his opponent was exhausted and stopped throwing punches.
Joshua looked so afraid that he couldn’t will himself to let his hands go because he was worried about what was coming back at him.
Joshua has too many remnants of what happened to him during his career, and he can’t forget. Unlike Wilder, Joshua isn’t indifferent to what he’s experienced in the ring, and he’s become a shell of the fighter he once was.
“This media, they didn’t appreciate what we were looking at him because he’s limited with certain things, and they try to talk about his limitations,” said Stephen. “I’m a guy that likes to talk about a guy’s production or what the whole total package is able to do and not what he can’t do,” said Edwards.
Deontay = savage
“No, he’s not a great boxer. No, he doesn’t have a good left hand,” said Edwards. “He doesn’t have a lot of things, but his total package with his right hand, his speed & his athleticism, and how mean he is and, how competitive he is, and how much heart he has, it makes him into a very formidable fighter.”
With the power that Wilder possesses in his right hand, he doesn’t need to be a great boxer. All he needs is to land at some point in the fight, and it’s game over.
If Wilder’s opponent stays upright after being hurt, he puts them away quickly. Tyson Fury was the only one to survive Wilder’s power, and you can argue that he was knocked out in the first and the third fights.
Most referees would have stopped the fight on the spot if they’d seen a fighter knocked unconscious like Fury in the first fight.
“If you listen to Tyson Fury talk, you can tell how much respect he has for him because he knows what it’s like being in the ring with a guy like that,” said Edwards. “I just think that unless Anthony gets it together mentally, dealing with a guy like Deontay is going to be tough because he’s always overthinking.
“It’s almost like he tries to philosophize with a lot of things, whereas Wilder in the ring, he’s just a savage. He just goes for it. Yeah, he’s only one hand. When people say that to me, I say, ‘You only have two hands. You only got a 50% chance of getting it right.
“It’s not like you’ve got ten hands, and he’s using one. You got two hands. So, he uses one more dominant. I’ve got a lot of respect for both guys, but I think right now, from what I see from both of them, Wilder has got the edge. I’ll just leave it at that,” said Edwards.
