Joyboy's Haki knocked the 5 elders out of their DF and sent them back to Marijoa, the giants wondered if that Haki was even stronger than Shanks'. And that was just the Haki stored in a knot from 800 years ago, not Joyboy himself going all out in a fight.
That is just Shanks level of haki and we know people stronger than Shanks already exist today.
It is gathered haki from Joyboy, lol. Joyboy cannot do a better fodder control burst than that one he already did.
And mind you this is fodder control from FMI but upgraded version, this is not attack coating. Zoro rules that to this day.
Imu referred to Xebec as Davy Jones, so he had some personal relationship with him. Not to mention Joyboy was the first pirate according to Vegapunk, so unless Davy Jones wasn't even a pirate in the traditional sense, what would contradict common lore, he should've been from that era too.
Imu made a mistake so he doesnt actually know Davy Jones.
He simply knows of him.
If he is from the 1st world it is normal that neither VP nor Imu have an actual clue about him...
The elders are already powerhouses with their awakened mythical zoans and powerful Hakis, and they are just Imu's minions. Being turned into a demon already gives the victims a considerable powerboost, and Imu isn't just a demon, he is Satan himself, so apart from all the hax (Domi Reversy, Abyss, Regeneration) he should have some immense physical boost. On top of the power of his conqueror's Haki being highlighted several times.
You don't last so long dominating the world being a cracker that hides behind his biscuits. Xebec made it into Imu's flower room and understood he is power less and needs to get tf out.
Xebec understood that he wasnt ready to dethrone the largest organization, that is why he went and started playing Davy Back Fight in order to gather an army that could overthrow WG... This consistently keeps being mistaken for an individual fight instead of overthrowing organizations...
We will see soon enough how powerful all of them actually are.
This is initial hype where they seem invincible. Not the first time we experienced this.
And then, the downfall era kicks in and they fall in line with all others. So far, Imu is merely Perona on sterioids, nothing more, nothing less.