By Scott Gilfoid: Former heavyweight world champion Evander Holyfield thinks that undefeated Commonwealth heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua (14-0, 14 KOs) should go after IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (64-3, 53 KOs) for his titles in the near future.
Holyfield thinks it’s a risk that the 25-year-old Joshua has to take with his career. However, Joshua and his promoter Eddie Hearn plan on waiting for at least two more fights before they go after either Klitschko or WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder.
“I think you have to shoot for Klitschko, you have to shoot for one of the guys who is a champion,” Holyfield said via skysports.com. The only way to be a champion is to beat a champion. That’s the risk you have to take.”
I don’t think Joshua should target Klitschko. I think he should target WBA “regular” heavyweight champion Ruslan Chagaev. He’s the weak link among the champions at heavyweight in my view.
Well, Joshua might not even get to a fight against Klitschko. I think he could get picked off well before he gets to the level of fighting the Wladimir or Deontay Wilder. Joshua has a fight against unbeaten Dillian Whyte (16-0, 13 KOs) on December 12th, and Joshua already lost to him in the past.
If Whyte can stand up to Joshua’s punches, he’s going to find a home for one of his big left hooks just like he did the last time they fought. Joshua isn’t exactly the hardest fighter to hit due to his bad habit of standing directly in front of his opponents and slugging with them. Joshua’s primitive flat-footed fighting style is going to lead to him taking big shots against anyone that he faces.
Up to now, Joshua has been matched against guys that he was able to obliterate with this fighting style. But I don’t think this is something that will work well for him every time moving into the future. Sooner or later, someone is going to nail Joshua with a head shot, and that’s going to be it for him.
It could be Whyte who could be the guy. Joshua lives and dies by his slugging style of fighting. He doesn’t possess the mobility to box from the outside for a full 12 round fight. He has to stand flat-footed and slug, and that’s a style that Whyte does very well against.
“I think earlier is better,” Holyfield said. “By him having not total professional experience, those fighters tend to get better than one who has fought for a long time. With his amateur background, I think he whips everybody out if he fights now.”
I don’t agree that Joshua “whips everybody out if he fights now” at all. I think Joshua will have major problems against Whyte, and against EBU heavyweight champion Erkan Teper. Both guys have good chins and major power. Joshua will need to show a better chin against those guys than he did in his fight against Whyte in 2009. If Joshua is just going to stand there and trade with those fighters, it’s a 50-50 situation where he could very well lose. It’s not as if he’s super human. If he gets nailed, he can be hurt just like anybody.
If Joshua gets past Whyte and Teper, I think he would have major problems against the 6’7” Wilder, because this guy has one-punch power and better hand speed than Joshua. If Wilder knows he’s going to be in a brawl, he’s going to unleash the beast and be looking to poleaxe Joshua with every punch he throws. If Joshua gets hit by one of Wilder’s big shots, I could see him dropping for the 10 count.
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