Heavyweight rankings: A deeper look at the top five

2. Anthony Joshua

It is easy to hate on Joshua now, and call him overrated. And while that may have been true at one point, many fans were appointing him as the next all-time great, and were convinced that he would be a long-raining champion.

It’s clear that he is not likely to have a run as dominate as the Klitschko’s, but he does have the deepest resume in the division. Fury’s best wins are much better than Joshua’s best wins, Joshua does have more quality wins, and he is a unified champion.

Sure, Ruiz knocked him out in a huge upset, but he handled Ruiz easily in the rematch. Most observers (myself included) would have loved to see Joshua knock Ruiz out, and put an end to the story line (like how Lennox Lewis avenged both of his unexpected losses), but he still dominated, and fought smart. Frankly, it was the game plan he should have employed in the first fight, but it is what it is.

Joshua is fundamentally sound, all of his punches are thrown with proper technique and he has shown tremendous heart (he has gotten up from his fair share of knockdowns, and has been rocked a few times).

On the other hand, his defense is poor and he is rather slow, and these traits lead to some fans calling him overrated.

Truthfully, he is simultaneously over and underrated. It is clear that he is not as special as many were saying, but his one loss to Ruiz is not enough to completely write him off as other fans are doing.

At the end of the day, he is a unified heavyweight champion, who is fundamentally sound. He has the size, power, and skills to be in any fight against any current heavyweight, and also has the not so great defense that makes it possible for him to get knocked out by any of them as well.

I look forward to seeing him against either Wilder or Fury in the near future.