By Scott Gilfoid: The World Boxing Council (WBC) has given British heavyweight Anthony Joshua (10-0, 10 KOs) a push up the rankings to No.8. This is an interesting ranking because it puts Joshua above #9 Andy Ruiz, #10 Manuel Charr, #12 Carlos Takam, #13 Chris Arreola, #14 Tony Thompson and #15 Odlanier Solis.
I don’t think Joshua, 6’6”, could beat some of those guys, most noticeably Takam, Arreola, Solis and Thompson. I rate all of those fighters above Joshua.
Joshua just turned pro in 2013 after winning a controversial gold medal in the 2012 London Olympics in the UK. A lot of boxing fans felt that Joshua lost at least two of his four matches, and some fans feel that Joshua lost all four of them. I definitely saw Joshua losing to Roberto Cammarelle in the finals, as well as Erislandy Savon in the first fight of the card. I also had Joshua losing to Zhilei Zhang and Ivan Dychko.
If Joshua keeps getting pushed up the rankings based on wins over 2nd tier fighters, then it’s possible he could find himself in position to fight for a world title as early as 2016. There’s no way that Joshua will get ranked high enough to fight for a world title in 2015 unless it’s one of the champions giving him an optional shot at their belt.
I don’t think Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn would allow Joshua to fight for a world title right now because he doesn’t have enough experience and he’s still not faced even a decent heavyweight. It’s been just poor opposition against guys that folded up quickly from his shots.
Hearn wants to match Joshua up against Tyson Fury, Dereck Chisora and David Price in 2015. That’s a pipe dream though, because none of those fights are going to happen. There’s not enough money in a fight against Joshua at this point because he doesn’t hold a world title.
Later this month Joshua will be facing journeyman Kevin Johnson (29-6-1, 14 KOs) on January 31st at the O2 Arena in London, UK. This is supposed to be a measuring stick to see where Joshua is right now, because Johnson is known for his ability to soak up punishment from his opponents. However, Johnson left his best days behind him six years ago when he lost to former WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko. With the way that Johnson has been fighting lately, he’s not going to be any real test for Joshua, and it won’t show anything if Joshua wins.
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