By Scott Gilfoid: In a sign that he’s got a terrible mismatch in front of him, unbeaten #2 WBC heavyweight contender Anthony Joshua (13-0, 13 KOs) has taken to the media to try and build up the image of his opponent 28-year-old Gary Cornish (21-0, 12 KOs), who he’ll be facing on September 12th for the vacant Commonwealth heavyweight title at the O2 Arena in London, UK.
For most boxing fans, this fight is perceived as a dreadful mismatch, as Cornish is just a slow lumbering heavyweight without hand speed, punching power or defensive skills. He’s just a big guy who has been fed a lot of weak opposition since he turned pro in 2011.
Joshua doesn’t have much hand speed either, and has faced the same type of awful opposition, but he at least has medium punching power going for him. Cornish is just a slow, lighter hitter without the defensive skills or hand speed to do much,
“It’s a big fight and there will be 14,000-15,000 people attending. The atmosphere is going to be crazy and my first major title is on the line,” Joshua said about his mismatch against Cornish via skysports.com. “He is going to come with pride and will want to take that belt back to Scotland, so it is going to be really competitive.”
It’s never a good sign when a fighter is talking up an opponent like Joshua is with Cornish and saying how the fight is going to be “really competitive.” When I see things like that, it’s a red flag to me that suggests that this is going to be a horrible fight and likely not worth watching. I mean, I’m not surprised that Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn has picked out Cornish for Joshua to fight, because Hearn has shown little inclination to put Joshua in with even a bottom dweller fringe contender since he turned pro in 2013.
What’s both disappointing and strange about that is that Olympic gold medal winners usually are pushed forward quickly with their careers because they’ve faced top level opposition in the amateur ranks, and don’t need to go through the D level opposition at the starts of their careers like we’re seeing with Joshua.
Granted, Joshua’s gold medal victory in the Olympics was a controversial one, because a lot of boxing fans thought Joshua was beaten in 2 out of his 4 fights in that competition. I think Joshua lost all four of his fights, but he at least put up a good enough effort to where he should shouldn’t be getting matched against guys like Cornish.
Instead of Cornish, Joshua should be fighting the likes of Tony Thompson, Carlos Takam, Erkan Teper, Mariusz Wach or Chris Arreola. If he can’t cut it against those guys, then he could at least realize the level he’s at and focus on fighting lesser guys.
“Gary Cornish is a big guy, he weighs about 18 stone and he has never been defeated, even as an amateur,” Joshua said. “He doesn’t know losing, he has the winning mentality, especially where there is a Commonwealth strap on the line as well.”
If Joshua wins this fight against Cornish, he’ll next be fighting his former conqueror Dillian Whyte (15-0, 12 KOs) on December 12 in London, if Whyte wins his fight on September 12th on the same card against the always capable 40-year-old Dominic Guinn.
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