By Scott Gilfoid: If Matchroom Sport promoter Barry Hearn gets his way, Anthony Joshua (17-0, 17 KOs) will be making his next title defense of his IBF belt against 37-year-old former WBC champion Bermane Stiverne (25-2-1, 21 KOs) in November. Joshua has another voluntary defense available to him, so he can pretty fight anybody.
The last time Joshua fought, Matchroom picked out #13 IBF fringe contender Dominic Breazeale in a mismatch that took place on June 25. Joshua stopped Breazeale in the 7th round.
Breazeale had previously beaten journeyman Fred Kassi by a very, very controversial 10 round decision last year in September. As such, Joshua was basically fighting a guy that was beaten by a journeyman, and the fight was sold on Sky Box Office PPV.
Hearn likes the idea of Joshua fighting former world champion Stiverne because he feels the fight will give him credibility with the fans. However, Stiverne was soundly beaten last year in January by Deontay Wilder in losing pretty much every round. It wasn’t competitive at all because Stiverne was too short to land his shots.
In Stiverne’s only fight since then, he struggled badly to beat journeyman Derric Rossy by a 10 round decision last November. Whether Stivern’s poor performance against Rossy was because of the punishment he took in the Wilder fight or simply because of ring rust is unknown. What is known is Stiverne looked very poor and not like a major player in the heavyweight division.
“Parker may well be next but I suspect, probably, Joshua will have another defence prior,” said Hearn to skysports.com. “There’s a whole range of names out there – whether you’re talking Stiverne, Eric Molina. Stiverne is probably my No 1 choice because of his credibility.”
I don’t think Joshua will gain much credibility fighting Stiverne. I mean, I think he would have if Stiverne was still the WBC champion and if he hadn’t been beaten by Wilder. The fact of the matter is, Stiverne looked horrible in his last two fights.
When you look as bad as Stiverne did in two consecutive fights, then credibility goes out the window and it becomes straight cherry-picking to fight someone like him. But then again, look at who Joshua just fought. He fought a fringe contender in Breazeale, who was picked from near the bottom of the International Boxing Federation’s rankings not long after Breazeale had been arguably beaten by a non-ranked 2nd tier journeyman Fred Kassi. Heck, Joshua might as well have fought Kassi in his first title defense rather than the guy that he beat in Breazeale. I’m just saying.
The right hand can take you around the block! But the jab will take you around the world 🌍 pic.twitter.com/ULuJNs54Ys
— Anthony Joshua (@anthonyfjoshua) July 7, 2016
Stiverne is currently ranked #2 WBC, #7 WBA, #14 IBF. I think the #14 ranking fits Stiverne the best. I don’t see him as a top 10 contender.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0zIDKTRlO0
Hearn also mentioned Eric Molina, a fighter that was knocked out by Wilder last year. I think that’s another bad choice for Joshua. Why is Hearn looking to put Joshua in with guys that Wilder easily beaten? How about Hearn match Joshua against a talent like Luis “The Real King Kong” Ortiz. Why isn’t Ortiz being mentioned for Joshua?