Anthony Joshua wants a big fight

By Boxing News - 04/10/2016 - Comments

BOXINGBy Scott Gilfoid: Newly crowned IBF heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua (16-0, 16 KOs) says it’s possible that his next fight could be against either Tyson Fury or David Haye because he would face them both on the same night.

Joshua’s win over Charles Martin last Saturday night seems to have given Joshua a boost in confidence because he’s talking like he’s infallible now instead of someone who fought an inexperienced guy that made a mistake in how he fought him. Martin made a mistake in using the same passive game plan that many of Joshua’s third tier opposition have used against him, and unfortunately for Martin, he got the same results.

Martin learned the hard way that you cannot fight passive against Joshua. If you just wait for him to land a shot, then he’s going to do it. This applies to any heavyweight. If you stand there waiting for them to hit you, then they’re going to do it eventually.

“It’s possible [that my next fight could be against Haye]. I don’t see why not but as a fighter I will fight anyone; I’ll fight them both on the same night – it’s no problem – but my management team will steer my career in the right direction,” said Joshua via skysports.com.

I don’t think Joshua can beat David Haye or Tyson Fury. The Joshua I saw last Saturday night against Martin was too slow and robotic to beat Haye and Fury. I’m just saying. Those guys are faster and more athletic than Joshua, and they’re not slowed down with unnecessary muscle. Haye has muscle, but it looks like muscle that doesn’t slow him down and goes with his body. He doesn’t seem to need to lift weights to be built like that. Haye has Mike Tyson type of muscles that are usable.

“I don’t want to talk about Fury too much because I feel like this is my time to enjoy right now,” Joshua said. “He should focus on his July 9 defence and when he gets that out of the way then me and him can start talking. But as of now, I had to handle things yesterday and that was my time, he has July 9 – that is his time and then me and him can get back to talking.

Yeah, it’s best that Joshua not talk about Fury right now because that’s a fight that can’t take place this year unless Fury wins his next fight and Joshua wins his fight on the same night on July 9. That’s when Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn wants Joshua to fight next. I’d like to think that Hearn will match Joshua against someone good, but according to Haye, he’s hearing that Joshua will fight a soft opponent in a voluntary defense. We could be seeing Dereck Chisora if he wins his fight against Kubrat Pulev next month.

We don’t know how good Joshua is because Martin was no real test due to him not throwing any punches in the fight. Martin gave Joshua far too much respect and this hurt his chances of winning the fight. There’s a lesson to be learned in all this. You cannot afford to give your opponent too much respect because it’s potentially dangerous. Martin wouldn’t let his hands so he got knocked out.

“There are still some big names I want to compete with first so it hasn’t really sunk in yet,” said Joshua. “It’s not by luck we are here it’s by hard work so that’s why I’m content. I feel like winning that belt yesterday was supposed to happen and that’s why I’m not too overwhelmed. I just want to keep going and keep on rolling.”

Well, I think a lot of boxing fans think Joshua only won a world title because he fought the right guy that was vulnerable against a fighter like him. I’m just saying. People talk. They say that Joshua and his promoter Hearn specifically picked out Martin and then threw money at him to get the fight because they didn’t want to take a dangerous threat like WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder or Tyson Fury. It makes sense what people say. If you’re really good as you say you are and you believe what you say about you being there and winning the title because it “was supposed to happen,” then you need to take on the best to see if that was supposed to happen too.



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