Hearn: Anthony Joshua will be ready for Chisora and Fury by the end of 2014

By Boxing News - 01/14/2014 - Comments

joshua536By Scott Gilfoid: Matchroom Sport promoter Eddie Hearn thinks British heavyweight prospect Anthony Joshua (3-0, 3 KO’s) will be ready to take on the likes of Dereck Chisora and Tyson Fury by the end of the year. Hearn is really high on the 6’6″ 2012 Olympic super heavyweight gold medalist from London Olympics. Hearn thinks that Joshua has the skills to compete with world level fighters despite his lack of quality fights since he turned pro.

“He [Joshua] feels that he’s ready to take those fights [Chisora and Fury] now,” Hearn said to Sky Sports. “Certainly at the end of this year, I think he will be in a position to take those kinds of fights. He’s an incredible talent.”

Joshua has a fight coming up next month against Dorian Dorch (7-2, 1 KO’s) at the Motorpoint Arena, Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom. After that, Joshua is scheduled to fight on March 1st against a still to be determined opponent at the Scottish Exhibition Centre, Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom. Hearn plans on scheduling Joshua soon after that against who knows what kind of opponent.

Hearn said “After those three fights, I think he’s ready for anyone in the country.”

If Hearn is serious about wanting Joshua to fight the likes of Chisora and Fury after three fights then he needs to start stepping up the level of competition because matching him against Darch is a waste of time. He needs to do a little bit better than that.

I think Joshua is going to have some problems once he gets someone that can take him past the 6th round. With all that useless muscle he’s carrying around, I see him gassing out and getting stopped. As it is, Joshua doesn’t have a lot of power, he’s not fast, and he kind of plods around the ring. His jab is mediocre and he’s just some big guy that pushes his punches. Yeah, he won Olympic gold, but many people think he got a gift in London with him winning fights over and over that fans thought he lost. I thought Joshua lost all of his Olympic fights, and I was much more impressed with the guys he fought than I was with him. The Cuban Erislandy Savon was especially impressive in dominating Joshua as was the Italian fighter Roberto Cammarelle.

If I’m Hearn, I’d keep Joshua on a soft diet as long as possible until I was absolutely certain that he won’t go into vapor lock the first time he goes past the 6th round. I can see that guy turning red in the face from having to carry about all that muscle for more than 6 rounds. Joshua doesn’t have the kind of muscle that translates into power. His muscles look like the type that hinder him, make him slow and tire him out.



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