It is odd.
Like giving him this title has only made people question why him now and not others.
But I guess the closer we get to the end the more we'd know:
- He could be the strongest and lose to a group, seems pretty possible
- He could be the "strongest" via hearsay/rumors, but its his durability/ability to one shot that that validated that. I find this doubtful because not only is that the case already, we are just about to see his hybrid with no hints to his awakening either.
- Hes the strongest and luffy wins, but Blackbeard just gains an immense 3rd power and becomes the real strongest. Akainu puts up a good fight but its not as tense as we'd want it to be.
Idk, its one of those things that I have no idea what the fuck oda is thinking here.