As one of the best heavyweights in the world, we have taken a dive into the career of Anthony Joshua and listed his five best career performances. It’s safe to say ‘AJ’ has had his fair share of outstanding wins and deserves immense credit for the fights so far in his career.
The list includes the likes of his wins over Wladimir Klitschko, Dillian Whyte and Alexander Povetkin. So without further ado, here are the five best performances of Anthony Joshua’s boxing career.
5 Best Performances Of Anthony Joshua’s Career
Here we have ranked Anthony Joshua’s five best performances in the professional boxing ring from 5 to 1…
5. Anthony Joshua vs Andy Ruiz II – December 7, 2019
In at number five on our list of Anthony Joshua’s Top 5 best career performances is his rematch vin against Andy Ruiz Jr. The fight took place in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia and was just the second time Joshua had gone the distance as a professional.
‘AJ’ picked himself up, dusted himself down and put on a clinical performance against the first ever Mexican heavyweight champion, beating him up and winning a wide unanimous decision victory after 36 minutes of action in the heat of the desert.
After how the first Ruiz fight had panned out with Joshua suffering his first defeat as a massive favourite with offshore sportsbooks, losing his three world title belts and getting knockout on convincingly, this was an incredible bounce-back performance from the London 2012 Olympic Gold Medallist.
The poster boy of British boxing had a lot of demons to deal with in the rematch with ‘The Destroyer’, and had to fight those as well as facing the only man to defeat him in a professional ring at the same time.
Yes, Ruiz wasn’t in the best shape and didn’t seem to train properly in the build up to the fight, but Joshua wasn’t to know that. The Watford man trained like a man possessed and ended up overcoming both his demons and Ruiz Jr in the Saudi Arabian desert.
Again, not the usual highlight reel performance we are used to seeing from Anthony Joshua, but a sensational win nonetheless and deserved of making it into his Top 5 performances in his professional boxing career.
4. Anthony Joshua vs Otto Wallin – December 23, 2023
In at number four on our list of Anthony Joshua’s best career performances is his recent victory over Otto Wallin on the huge ‘Day Of Reckoning’ card in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in December 2023
This was a bumper card, with the likes of Deontay Wilder vs Joseph Parker on the undercard, as well as the likes of Jai Opetaia and Dmitry Bivol fighting on the same night too. Joshua vs Wallin was top of the bill, and it was ‘AJ’ who got the knockout victory in Round 5 of the contest.
Yes, Joshua was a relatively heavy favorite with the best boxing betting apps to win the fight, but he had a lot of doubters and people who though he was destined to lose. This was the first fight of AJ’s under new trainer Ben Davison, and it was the best performance boxing fans have seen from ‘AJ’ in several years.
Joshua was on it from the very first bell, almost landing at will on the face of Otto Wallin. Joshua made light work of Wallin, who had given Tyson Fury immense trouble a few years prior. Eventually, the ending came in the fifth round after 15 minutes of utter dominance from the former two-time world heavyweight king.
The Brit looked the best he had in years, with many fans believing that version of ‘AJ’ against Wallin could possibly be the best heavyweight in the world. A great display from ‘AJ’ and one that just creeps into Anthony Joshua’s Top 5 best career performances to date.
3. Anthony Joshua vs Dillian Whyte – December 12, 2015
At the time, this was an absolutely massive grudge match in the British heavyweight division, with Anthony Joshua and Dillian Whyte going back and forth with trash talk and nastiness in the build up to the fight. Joshua’s knockout victory of ‘The Body Snatcher’ kicks off the best three performances of his boxing career.
On the night, Joshua was the overriding favorite with the best US sportsbooks to win in style, but there were a few boxing experts here and there that really fancied the chances of Whyte. Whyte boasted a win over Joshua in the amateur ranks, so already had that psychological edge over his British rival.
The fight was mental. Joshua was all over Whyte like rash in the first few rounds, landing his big shots with Whyte not being able to land a glove on Joshua. After the first round, Whyte believed ‘AJ’ to have landed a punch after the bell with chaos erupting in the ring. The WBC world title challenger threw two punches in the direction of Joshua, over the shoulder of referee Howard Foster.
The chaos continued as both entourages of the two fighter came into the ring to separate the two fighters. The contest then resumed for Round 2, with Joshua goading Whyte, talking to him before throwing huge punches and landing on the chin of Whyte.
Whyte wobbled Joshua in the third round, but was unable to finish the fight of, with Joshua instead taking over from the fourth round onwards. The end came in the seventh round after ‘AJ’ landed a huge right hand, staggering Whyte, before following it up with a sustained attack.
The right uppercut was the end for Whyte, as Joshua knocked him out cold and left the Brixton man sprawling across the ropes unconscious. Although this was a very raw performance from Joshua, at the time it was the best of his career and was certainly the biggest win on his ever growing resumé.
2. Anthony Joshua vs Alexander Povetkin – September 22, 2018
In at number two is Anthony Joshua’s emphatic seventh round knockout of Alexander Povetkin in September 2018 at Wembley Stadium, London.
At the time, Povetkin had only been defeated once and that was by the long reigning champion, Wladimir Klitschko. The Russian put up a good fight against Klitschko, but was no match for Joshua on this occasion.
‘AJ’ became the first man to ever stop Povetkin, breaking him down round by round before ending the fight in just as they two fighters embarked on the second half of the fight. Again, at the time this was seen as a magnificent victory.
It was certainly a huge statement to the rest of the heavyweight division that not only could Joshua beat Povetkin, but that he could stop him. Something that the 10 year reigning heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko couldn’t even do.
Joshua knocked the Russian down early in the seventh round, before following that up and jumping on a tired, bamboozled Povetkin. The end came with with just a minute left in the round as Joshua landed a beautiful uppercut, wobbling Povetkin all over the show before referee Steve Gray waved the contest off.
Joshua’s stoppage of Povetkin was a standout performance and a huge statement to the rest of the heavyweight division. Certainly worthy of coming in at number two on this list.
Now, without any further ado, here is the best performance of Anthony Joshua’s career as rated by our SportsLens boxing experts…
1. Anthony Joshua vs Wladimir Klitschko – April 29, 2017
In at number one and going down as the best performance of the sensational career of Anthony Joshua so far is of course his 11th round stoppage victory over the long reigning, former heavyweight champion of the world, Wladimir Klitschko.
This fight was absolutely massive, with fans from all over the world tuning in to watch this potentially career defining moment of Joshua’s. Of course, a lot of people thought Klitschko could maybe pull of one more sensational victory and become heavyweight champ again, and he was close to doing just that.
The fight was just incredible. Both Joshua and Klitschko put it all on the line and served up an absolute barnstormer of a fight under the famous Wembley Stadium arch. Both men were on the deck at some stage in the fight, which just further emphasises how good a fight this was and how clinical a performance it was from ‘AJ’.
Joshua claimed his first knockdown of the fight in the fifth round, landing an enormous uppercut on the chin of the Ukrainian, wobbling him and sending him to the canvas. Joshua went in for the kill as he always does, but it nearly went horribly wrong for the Londoner.
Klitschko began to land freely on the chin of ‘AJ’, and scored his own knockdown in the following round. Again, Klitschko had Joshua all over the place, but couldn’t quite find that one big punch to end the fight there and then.
In the 11th round, Joshua scored his second knockdown of the fight. He then followed that up with a devastating onslaught and wasn’t for letting Klitschko survive this time. He did just that as Klitschko could no longer protect himself with referee David Fields stepping in and waving the fight off.
The 90,000 people inside Wembley Stadium erupted as Joshua was victorious in an absolutely sensational fight, claiming a magnanimous victory and a career defining win against one of the greatest heavyweights of all time.
Certainly worthy of claiming number one spot here as Anthony Joshua best ever career performance in a boxing ring. There could be more big nights to come for ‘AJ’, but as of now this comes in at top of the pile.
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