By Tim Royner: Eddie Hearn says the pressure is on Anthony Joshua to perform against Joseph Parker, and to show the boxing world the improvements he’s made since his tough fight against former heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko a year ago in April.
There is a lot of things expected of Joshua (20-0, 20 KOs0, because he’s considered the No.1 heavyweight on the planet right now by the boxing experts. Joshua, 28, dethroned Wladimir by knocking him out in the 11th round to become the top dog in the division.
Tyson Fury temporarily was the No.1 guy, but he fell apart after beating Wladimir and lost his motivation to keep achieving. Despite having accumulated massive wealth in a short period of time, Joshua hasn’t lost his desire to be the best.
“The pressure is on him and he knows he has to perform. It’s all about performance. He wants to show the world, and show his coach, how he’s improved since the Wladimir Klitschko fight,” Hearn said to Sky Sports News. “He is learning and improving.”
Joshua didn’t show much in the way of improvement in his last fight against Carlos Takam last October from the fighter that had faded in the 6th round against Wladimir. Joshua looked tired in the same way against Takam that he had against Wladimir.
Takam, 6’1”, didn’t have the size to take advantage of Joshua’s fatigue in the same way the 6’6”, 244 lbs. Klitschko had. Takam was too small, too old and he’d taken off too much weight for the fight. Takam had been fighting around 250 lbs. through much of his career, but for the Joshua fight, he dropped 15 pounds, and that seemed to hurt his power for the fight.
“Anthony has been edgy in the preparation,” Hearn said. “[Promoter David] Higgins, Parker and [trainer Kevin] Barry have tried to get under his skin. I wouldn’t say it’s worked.”
Joshua, 28, is old enough to know when the opposing fighter’s trainers and promoters are trying to get under his skin to upset him and throw him off his game. I don’t think any of that stuff works against fighters that are at the top of the sport. That kind of stuff is good for getting the boxing public interested in the fights, but that’s about it.
Joshua is too old to be intimidated by mind games from Team Parker or any of his other opponents. If Joshua is afraid of one of his opponents, it would be due to him being worried about the threat they bring to the table. Mind games by trainers and promoters aren’t going to increase Joshua’s fear. He doesn’t fear Parker, who isn’t a big puncher and he hasn’t looked good lately in his last three fights against Hughie Fury, Razvan Cojanu and Andy Ruiz Jr.
Joshua says he’s not worried in the slightest about the 26-year-old Parker’s hand speed advantage in the fight. Joshua says he’s capable of countering him after he throws one of his shots, and he plans on using anticipation and timing to negate Parker’s hand speed in the fight. Joshua also thinks he can make Parker miss with his shots.
”It’s not the size of the dog, it’s the fight in the dog,” Joshua said. ”Anticipation and timing beat speed. I know how to counter punch. I know how to make him pay. I know how to make him miss,” Joshua said in discussing how he’ll deal with Parker’s hand speed advantage.
Joshua’s ability to make his opponents miss might not be good enough for him to avoid the shots from Parker. Joshua doesn’t move his head very much to get out of the way of incoming fire, and Parker throws with a lot of speed. Parker is going to land his shots more often than not in this fight.
Joshua’s best tactics for negating Parker’s offense are these things:
• Keep his arms up
• Stay at range
• Use movement
• Throw shots while Parker is coming forward
• Use head movement
• Go on the attack
Joshua doesn’t move his head to avoid punches, and it’s not likely that he’s going to start doing that on Saturday night. Joshua has too much size, and if he uses head movement, he’ll likely wear down quickly and be ineffective. In the past, Joshua’s best way of negating an opponents’ offense was to go on the attack. Joshua nullified Wladimir’s offense by attacking him with heavy shots. When Joshua was sitting back on defense, Wladimir was jabbing him from the outside and getting the better of him. Although Joshua has a good jab, it wasn’t in the same class as Wladimir’s. The outside game was dominated by Wladimir with his longer reach, faster hands and much better jab. Joshua doesn’t have to worry too much about Parker’s jab, because he doesn’t have the same kind of long reach that Wladimir had going for him against Joshua
“So the things I brings to the table aren’t just a big punch,” Joshua said. ”I bring counter punching. I bring footwork. I bring timing as well,” Joshua said.
Joshua can counter punch while his opponents are coming forward, but he gets tired quickly and loses his ability to counter punch. Once Joshua fades, he’s able to be hit with a lot of shots. Parker will need to be mindful of Joshua’s energy levels during the fight. If looks like Joshua is starting to lose his energy, then Parker would have to go after him to have a chance.
Joshua rates Parker as being at the same level as Dillian Whyte, who he knocked out in the 7th round in 2015. That seems like an accurate rating. Parker has faster hand speed, a better chin and he’s more mobile than Whyte. There are a number of things that Parker does better than Whyte. For Whyte to beat Parker, he might need to target his body because he can take head shots well.
”Him and Dillian, I put them up against each other,” Joshua said in stating that he views Parker and Dillian Whyte as having similar talent. ”If Dillian was fighting Parker, it would be a good 50-50 fight. Him and Dillian are good, talented fighters.”