1. Anyone not trolling clearly understands Mihawk would do to Luffy what Imu just did.
Throughout the entire Kaido fight I was just thinking "If Kaido was a swordsman he'd have killed luffy a dozen times by now" because it's true.
And the time Luffy goes up against a blade he gets impaled, because that's what would have ended his pirating career this whole time.
That's why people are now saying Luffy needs equipment like Imu has just to compete and stay alive. We've seen depictions of Nika wielding a shield or spear etc.
2. Anyway Imu being stronger than Mihawk is not what's important here. The fact that he's using sword techniques raises a question "Is Oda okay with showing stronger swordsmanship than Mihawk's before he even shows off Mihawk's capabilities?"
The answer is clearly no in my humble opinion. Meaning whatever Imu is showing, must be inferior to whatever Mihawk is capable of. We can bring up that he's nerfed but I don't see how that affects the literal weapons he's using like this Sword of Nothingness.
So therefore and likewise, if Yoru is to remain the strongest sword, it should also be superior to any blade Imu pulls out, whatever hax abilities it has.
3. Meaning, Imu's capabilities and toolkit when it comes to this must be inferior to whatever Mihawk can do. If I'm being charitable, maybe it doesn't matter that Imu's maki itself is being shaped into a sword with stigma, because it's his Maki at the end of the day no matter what shape it's in.
But even then I just see it as a cheap knock off of Yoru. Which is the real deal. I mean this as in The Strongest Blade used in the hands of the Strongest Swordsman, should be more effective than a nerfed Imu shaping his maki into a sword. I don't think this is farfetched.
4. Pirate warriors specifically was more accurate that many presumed, because it showed Shanks imbuing his conquerors haki into his sword attacks, way before we saw him use Divine Departure. Similarly if we look at Mihawk's skillset in that game, it's all related to Imu in some way.
16 day moon, Kokuto: Mu, etc. Even if Mihawk is not stronger than Imu, his swordsmanship must be stronger than Imu's. That is just one tool out of many that Imu uses and even if it's amplified by his power, that doesn't mean it is stronger than someone who has dedicated their entire life to that one tool that Imu uses.
5. If Shanks haki is anywhere near the realm of Joyboy's then assuredly Imu would acknowledge Shanks as being strong, the Gorosei already do. And we know for a fact his haki imbued sword techniques are weaker than Mihawks.
If you aren't disingenuous you will then come to the conclusion that Mihawk's swordsmanship, reaches the realm of Joyboy's league in terms of it's effectiveness. And if that is the case, then it is again not a stretch to say it is stronger than any sword Imu can pull out.
And if you're asking what justifies Mihawk's swordsmanship being so strong, aside from using the logic that it must be above Shanks's, that can be a combination of factors.
6. Mihawk already being very strong and paired with Yoru which can be insane in it's own right. If you disagree then you are also saying Yoru is not even top 20 sword potentially, because of the 20 swords Imu could have in his bag.
You have to essentially quadruple down on what we know about Mihawk and his Blade to be untrue. Even Yoru is connected to marejois and potentially the void century.
This combination is what allows Mihawk's swordsmanship to be this strong, even if he himself is not as strong as Joyboy. And at the end of the day the sword chose him, and he tamed it. Yoru itself can be a symbol of the culmination of all the sword techniques Imu is using.
7.I don't believe Oda would disrespect Zoro's goal like that, because even if Mihawk were to be a stepping stone for Zoro to help save the world or whatever, it's still his literal dream at the end of the day, his kingly ambition.
I can logically demonstrate my conclusions but at the end of the day some people will just need to see it to believe it, part of their frustration is Mihawk being held back for so long, but that's literally what opposes their Mihawk slander. They don't seem to realise that or don't care because of said frustration.
None of what I said means Mihawk is literally stronger than Imu, but it shows why Mihawk's swordsmanship can be stronger than any sword technique Imu can throw out.