Anthony Joshua answers Cristiano Ronaldo vs Lionel Messi debate | OneFootball

Highlights

The debate over Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi has been one of the biggest talking points among football fans since the pair first laced up their boots in the early 2000s.

With a combined 1,680 goals between them in all competitions, the Argentinian and the Portuguese are comfortably two of the greatest players of all time in the sport and their rivalry will forever be remembered.

Anthony Joshua on the Messi vs Ronaldo debate

Now, former world heavyweight champion and Olympic gold medalist Anthony Joshua has leant into the debate, giving his verdict on who he believes is the better of the two footballing giants, saying: “I am going Cristiano Ronaldo. They are both great, but I feel Messi is more of a natural, Ronaldo really had to work at it. Both work hard, of course, but Ronaldo needed to do more, and did it.”

As a professional fighter who has to prepare for war in his own training camps, Joshua gave the nod to the Portuguese marksman due to his relentless work rate off the pitch and the fact that he may have to work harder to achieve certain levels compared to Messi, who AJ believes is more naturally gifted.

Winning five Ballons d'Or, scoring 859 goals, and winning 34 trophies across his career, Ronaldo has one of the most impressive resumes of all time in the sport, and Joshua isn't the first athlete to praise his work rate and desire to reach the top.

Athletes full of praise for Cristiano Ronaldo

Captivating the world with his flair and confidence at such an early age, Ronaldo's mentality is what sets him apart from the rest, with former teammate Rio Ferdinand claiming that he "has an elite mentality like no other."

Another former Manchester United star in Paul Pogba, who shared a locker room with Ronaldo in the 2021/22 Premier League season, also attested to the mentality of the winger, telling the Muslim Money Guys podcast back in late 2022: “I see professional football players, many of whom are very professional, arrive early, do all the catching up and things like that. But there is someone who has been there every single day and hasn’t stopped. That’s Cristiano.

“It’s his personality, he’s a winner, that’s for sure. He always wants to be right, he is never satisfied with what he has done, he always wants more. His motto is: ‘I can do more. I will do more.'

“His motivation is crazy. What I saw for a year when I was with him, every day is a new record, a new challenge for him. He challenges himself. He doesn’t see others, he says, I have to be better than me.”

Despite the comparisons between who is the better of the two, the clear fact of the matter is that this is the most competitive sporting individual rivalry that has ever been seen.

Certainly, two of the most talented players that have ever been witnessed, coming through at similar times, playing for the two biggest rival clubs in the world, rewriting the record books, dominating the Ballon d'Or competition for an entire decade, and sustaining their level throughout the entirety of their European careers, it has truly been a blessing to be a witness to the Ronaldo and Messi era.