By Scott Gilfoid: Former world champion Barry McGuigan thinks IBF heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua (17-0, 17 KOs) needs to keep improving by facing better opposition than what he’s currently facing now. McGuigan thinks Joshua looked robotic and very predictable in his recent title defense against #13 IBF Dominic Breazeale (17-1, 15 KOs) last month.
Joshua won the fight by a 7th round knockout, but he seemed to be relying on throwing 1-2 combinations all night long, and didn’t show much in terms of variety when it came to his punch assortment. McGuigan doesn’t see #1 IBF Joseph Parker giving Joshua any problems when the two of them get around to facing each other in the near future.
McGuigan notes that the boxing world is already calling for Joshua to step up and face WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder in a unification match. However, Joshua and his promoter Eddie Hearn appear reluctant to make that fight right now. They want to let the Wilder fight marinate. With dreadful ratings Joshua vs. Breazeale fight brought in last Saturday afternoon for their fight on Showtime that was televised in the United States, I don’t know if it’s going to really help if Joshua lets the fight against Wilder marinate.
I don’t see Joshua getting popular in the States if he’s going to fight lower level opposition in fights that are piped into the U.S on Showtime and televised in the afternoon rather than in primetime. For Joshua to become popular in the U.S., he’ll need to face quality opponents and his fights will need to be televised on one of the free networks like CBS, NBC, Fox or ESPN.
Being seen on those networks during primetime would give Joshua a ton of visibility. Fighting on Showtime during the afternoon is a waste time in my view, and I feel sorry for Showtime if that’s all they’re going to get from Joshua for their multi-fight deal with him.
“Anthony Joshua must improve, and that won’t happen against more Dominic Breazeales and Joseph Parkers,” said McGuigan in his column at the Mirror. “The clamor for a unification bout with WBC champion Deontay Wilder is going to become deafening, and Britain’s IBF king is still too predictable and robotic. Joshua’s body beautiful won’t save him in tougher bouts than this — learning to REALLY fight will,” said McGuigan.
I totally agree with McGuigan. Joshua DID look predictable and very, very robotic against Breazeale last Saturday night, but then again, Joshua has always looked that way. I thought Joshua was given the gold medal in the 2012 Olympics in London based more on how he looked rather than his performances inside the ring. I thought Joshua lost all four of his fights, especially his bouts against Erislandy Savon, Roberto Cammarelle and Ivan Dychko.
Joshua beat Savon by the score of 17-16, Cammarelle by a count back after their fight ended at 18-18, and Dychko by a 13-11 score. Joshua beat Zhang Zhilei of China by the score of 15-11. I had Zhilei winning the fight 18-10. The judges weren’t giving him credit for cleanly landing shots. I also had Joshua losing to Cammarelle in the 2011 AIBA World Boxing Championship in Baku, Azerbaijan. Joshua won the fight by the score of 15-13 over Cammarelle.
McGuigan wants Joshua to be matched up with better opponents, and he also wants to see him sparring with high quality sparring partners. I don’t know if either of those things is going to happen. Joshua’s next fight could be against the likes of Dereck Chisora, Dillian Whyte or Bermane Stiverne. Those are not fighters that are going to help Joshua improve.
Whyte would have been a good opponent, but his left shoulder doesn’t look like it’s 100 percent based on how he performed last Saturday night in beating Ivica Macurin by a 6th round knockout. Whyte was rarely using his left arm in that fight, and when he did use it, he didn’t look like he had the power or the range of motion on it that he had before. Whyte had surgery on his left shoulder last December.
“I need to see him relax more, throw punches in bunches, create angles, chase and trap an opponent, deal with a moving target. I want to see him improve his ring-sense and awareness,” said McGuigan about Joshua. “At this point, Wilder would pose a big problem because he is quick and can punch. David Haye, with his speed and lateral movement, is another with the potential to give him nightmares.”
Wilder and Haye would give Joshua major problems, because those guys are highly mobile, more powerful, and faster than Joshua, a lot faster. Joshua would be plodding around the ring against Wilder and Haye, and not having a stationary target for him to land his power shots. Haye and Wilder would be able to pick their spots when and where they would want to clock Joshua with right hands and left hooks. It would be like when Joshua was knocked out by Romanian Mihai Nistor in 2012. Nistor stayed on the outside most of the fight and picked spots to come in punching range to nail Joshua with tremendous head shots.