By Scott Gilfoid: #13 IBF Dominic Breazeale (17-0, 15 KOs) says he’s going to give IBF heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua (16-0, 16 KOs) a real bad beating when the two of them face each other in less than three weeks on June 25 in their fight on Sky Box Office pay-per-view at the O2 Arena in London, England.
Breazeale says he’s going to shock the world by knocking out Joshua and bringing his title back to the United States. If Joshua wants the belt back, he’ll need to come to American to fight him for it, says Breazeale.
Breazeale seemed to get to Joshua in their face to face during the Sky special The Gloves Are Off.” Breazeale’s confidence seemed to bother Joshua. Breazeale appeared to really upset Joshua when he pointed out that he felt that Joshua was given a gift gold medal in the 2012 Olympics, which took place in London, England. Joshua appeared to lose several of the fights in the Olympics in the eyes of many fans, and yet he won each fight.
The Olympic final between Joshua and 2008 Olympic gold medalist Roberto Cammarelle was especially controversial with Cammarelle losing a very, very questionable decision. However, Joshua’s win in his first fight in the 2012 London Olympics against Cuba’s Erislandy Savon was just as controversial in the view of many fans. Joshua struggled badly and was getting out-punched by Savon.
“I’m going to shock the world. Dominic Breazeale is and trouble is coming,” said Breazeale on The Gloves Are Off. “I plan on beating you up real bad…something you’re going to remember me by. Sixth and seventh round comes, that’s when you’re out of there. I’m knocking you out. I’m knocking Anthony Joshua out and taking that belt back home with me.“
Breazeale said he’s going to take Joshua into “uncharted territory” once he takes him into the sixth and seventh rounds. That’s when he plans on knocking Joshua out. He feels that he’s going to fade at the same time that he goes for the knockout. Joshua’s response was that he should try and knock him out earlier in the fight. That obviously wouldn’t make sense for Breazeale to follow Joshua’s advice and attack him when he’s at his strongest.
Breazeale obviously knows that Joshua is carrying around a great deal of large body building type muscle weight on his frame. When you’ve got a heavily muscular fighter in the ring with you, it’s important not to attack them right away. You’ve got to take them into the deeper rounds to tire them out because they have to carry all that muscle around with them and it gets to be like lead weights.
In speaking about Joshua’s controversial gold medal he won in the London Olympics in 2012, Breazeale said “Cammarelle won that gold medal. Fighting in your back yard, leaving it up to the judges, you’re going to get that nod. That’s why I don’t plan on letting the fight on June 25 go to the judges.“
When asked if Joshua deserves the gold medal from the 2012 Olympics, Breazeale said, “I do not, no. I do not believe Anthony Joshua is a gold medalist, no. He has a gold medal, but Cammarelle won that fight.”
Joshua then said, “It’s an opinion. I won that fight. Let the judges do the judging, and me and you do the fighting. That’s what’s important. Focus on your fight. I won the fight. It’s his opinion. That’s what’s irrelevant.”
Breazeale said, “It’s the opinion of many [that Joshua should have lost to Roberto Cammarelle in the 2012 Olympics].
Yeah, it doesn’t matter what Joshua or Breazeale feel about Joshua’s gold medal status from the 2012 Olympics in London. It’s already out there. The fans have already seen the fight. They don’t need to be judges in order for them to have an opinion on the fight.
Joshua says that the judges are the ones that decide. That is true. But when fans see judges scoring fights for guys that they feel should have lost the fight, the fans are going to speak their mind. As we’ve already seen, many fans thought Joshua should have lost to Cammarelle and to Savon.
“I don’t even know if there’s a rematch clause, I’m not bothered. I’m not losing that belt. I’ve just got to gauge who I’m in with and exploit him. I think I’m strong enough to hurt Dominic,” said Joshua.