By Scott Gilfoid: It looks like IBF heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua (17-0, 17 KOs) doesn’t want another fodder opponent for his next fight. Joshua, 26, plans on fighting before or during November, and he says he would like to fight a good contender. Whether that means Joshua will fall in behind whoever his promoter Eddie Hearn lines up is unclear. Gee, it looks like Joshua is starting to notice that he’s being matched against dreadful opposition.it look him long enough to notice.
Joshua may need to be assertive with Eddie if he wants a quality guy because he’s talking about wanting to match him against 37-year-old Bermane Stiverne, who recently lost to Deontay Wilder last year.
The boxing world wants to see Joshua defend against his IBF mandatory challenger Joseph Parker next, but it looks like Hearn is going to drag that fight out until 2017 before he lets it happen. Joshua’s next fight will likely be another voluntary defense. Read: another bottom dweller.
“No problem with that,” said Joshua to skysports.com about him fighting in November. I’ve got a slot for November and then we’ve got 2017, which is important. Now it’s going to get serious because people are calling me out far and wide, across the world. Whoever we fight in November has to be someone that will push us forwards into 2017, and they have to be a serious contender.”
I’d like to make a suggestion that the 6’6” Joshua fight one of the following heavyweights for his next fight:
Luis “The Real King Kong” Ortiz
Kubrat Pulev
Alexander Povetkin
David Haye
Hughie Fury
Carlos Takam
Jarrell Miller
Is it too much to ask for Joshua to fight one of these live bodies?
As far as Joshua getting a “serious contender” to fight in his next bout, I’m not holding my breath waiting for that to happen. Hearn has a golden goose in Joshua for his Matchroom stable, and I don’t think he wants that goose to be plucked clean of his feathers by putting him in with someone that can potentially do the job on him. Look at the guys that Hearn has been matching Joshua up against lately: Dominic Breazeale, Charles Martin, Gary Cornish, Kevin Johnson and Rafael Zumbano Love. These guys weren’t even trying to throw punches. They were just hanging around, covering up and just looking like they had frozen completely under the spotlight. Those guys were just awful.
Hearn did a great job of match-making in putting Joshua in with those guys, but it sure as heck didn’t tell us anything about Joshua’s talent or lack thereof. You can’t tell whether Joshua is any good or not simply because of the terrible opponents that Hearn has been putting in with him. The boxing world now want to see Hearn put Joshua in with a live body in Joseph Parker, but it doesn’t look like Hearn is willing to do that next. It looks like Hearn is going to drag that fight out until Joshua absolutely has to fight him Parker to keep from being stripped of his IBF title by the sanctioning body.
Honestly, there is not a lot to choose from in the heavyweight division. Once you get past Wilder, Parker, Ortiz, Wladimir Klitschko, Haye and Tyson Fury, the pickings are mighty slim. If Joshua isn’t going to be fighting any of those guys, then he’s going to be fighting fodder and having an easy go of it every time out. The heavyweight is SO weak right now that I can see Joshua holding onto his IBF title for the next 20 years if the division doesn’t improve with some new blood.
The division was already very, very weak from 2006 to 2015, which is why Wladimir was able to hold onto a world title for nine solid years. It wasn’t because Wladimir was the best thing since sliced bread. It was because the heavyweight division was so barren of talent. Deontay Wilder was the new shining star in the division when he emerged in 2008, but his handlers took too much time in bringing him along. I think Wilder would have captured a world title back in 2009 if he’d been given a shot like other Olympics get straightaway.
“At the minute I’ve fought two Americans in a row and then hopefully the next one will be American or someone on a global stage. That way, when I go to America, we’ll already have a platform,” said Joshua.
Well, I don’t think it matters that Joshua is fighting American heavyweights, because he’s not fighting the popular guys like Deontay. If I were a casual boxing fan in the U.S, I probably would have never heard of Charles Martin and Dominic Breazeale. I’m just saying. I mean, Joshua is fighting Americans, but he’s not fighting the talents like Deontay Wilder, who is well known in America.
Joshua should be fighting Luis Ortiz, because the Cuban is fighting on HBO and being seen by millions. Ortiz now lives in Miami, Florida. If Joshua is going to fight an American, or American based heavyweight, then he should be looking to fight the 6’4” Ortiz. I guarantee that the southpaw Ortiz wouldn’t freeze under the spotlight and not throw punches at Joshua. Believe me, Ortiz would be looking to take Joshua’s head off with each shot he throws.