Joshua: I’ve got to put an end to Breazeale’s dreams

By Boxing News - 06/21/2016 - Comments

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By Scott Gilfoid: IBF heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua (16-0, 16 KOs) has a tough task ahead of him on Saturday night in defending his IBF strap against an equally big 6’7”, 255lbs challenger Dominic Breazeale (17-0, 15 KOs) at the O2 Arena in London, England.

Not only is Breazeale equally big, but he hits about as hard as Joshua. This is a fight where either of these guys can win the fight, although Joshua has to be considered the favorite going in given his hometown advantage. With that said, Breazeale seems to be the more mature of the two, and seems to have a real keen eye with his observations.

Breazeale seems to have the better ring IQ, as he shows variation to his game that we don’t see with the 26-year-old Joshua. With Joshua, he tends to charge forward looking to throw flurries. It’s all the same stuff we’ve seen from him since his amateur days. Breazeale looks he’s got the ability to try different strategies and to shift gears in his fights.

I’ve got to put an end to his dream. I’m not putting too much pressure on myself. I’m going to attack the fight the same way I have my last 16 and put on an explosive show,” said Joshua. “That’s what the Americans love. They like knockouts and I won’t let them down. If I come to the U.S., I’m going to shut it down,” said Joshua.

What’s this? Joshua is going to shut the U.S down? Now who is the one doing the dreaming? Pray tell, just how is Joshua going to shut the U.S down? Joshua might not even get past Breazeale on Saturday, let alone come to the U.S to try and deal defeats to guys like Deontay Wilder, Bryant Jennings, Bermane Stiverne, Andy Ruiz, Luis “The Real King Kong” Ortiz, Jarrell Miller and Malik Scott. I think Joshua needs to keep his focus at the task at hand on Saturday rather looking past his opponent Breazeale towards a goal that would seem too far off at this point.

Breazeale sees weakness Joshua that has remained unchanged from his amateur days when he was winning a controversial gold medal in the 2012 Olympics in London, England. Breazeale sees Joshua and his team as having not done their research properly about him, because if they had they wouldn’t be so cocky about the fight. They would be dreading the fight and the huge risk involved, because this is a fight that Joshua could very well lose and lose badly. Breazeale says he’s going to be fighting in front of 20,000 UK fans, and he expects to leave the UK with those fans being his fans on Saturday.

“I am coming into this fight very confident and I’ve got some things that I know are going to work for me, as well as some things that I plan on exploiting out of Joshua,” said Breazeale.

Well, Breazeale has already given away his No.1 game plan to exploit Joshua’s questionable stamina by fighting at a rapid pace for three minutes of every round. Breazeale sees Joshua’s body building muscles turning into lead weights for him later in the fight.

As for Breazeale’s other ideas to exploit Joshua’s game, it’s anyone’s guess what those ideas are. Right off the top of my head, I would think Breazeale will look to land head shots, a lot of them, because Joshua was stubbed by Dillian Whyte last December. If Whyte was able to hurt Joshua, then Breazeale can sure as heck do it too.