By Scott Gilfoid: As far as promoter Eddie Hearn is concerned, his fighter Anthony Joshua will be crowned the new star in boxing worldwide after he beats Wladimir Klitschko in their fight in two months from now on April 29 on Sky Box Office PPV at the Wembley Stadium in London, England.
Hearn thinks it’s going to be the crowning of the 27-year-old Joshua. A lot of boxing fans see Joshua as just an over-muscled body-builder, who has been spoon-fed fodder opposition by Hearn since he signed the British 2012 Olympic gold medalist. Hearn has been very careful with the fighters that he’s put the 6’6” Joshua in with at the pro level.
(Photo credit: Ed Mulholland, Matchroom Boxing, K2 Promotions, KMG Management Group)
Joshua was fighting better opposition in the amateur ranks from 2011 than he’s fought at the pro level. That’s the sad part. Joshua is 18-0 and is the IBF heavyweight champion, but he’s not fought anyone close to the talent level of the guys that he was fighting in the amateurs when he was beaten by Mihai Nistor in 2011, and defeating Roberto Cammarelle, Zhang Zhilei, Erislandy Savon and Ivan Dychko by controversial decisions in the 2012 Olympics.
“Anthony Joshua has set a frightening pace but I believe on April 29, it will be the crowning of the new worldwide sensation in boxing,” said Hearn.
You can’t say how good Joshua is right now because he’s been matched so carefully. Right now, Joshua has been put in with guys that pretty much any of the top contenders would beat. I mean, if you had Kubrat Pulev and Luis Ortiz fighting the same 18 guys that Hearn has fed to Joshua since he turned pro, then both of those guys would have the same 18-0 record as him.
The difference is the wouldn’t be getting the same kind of buzz about them as Joshua has because they didn’t win an Olympic gold medal in 2012, and they don’t have a ton of British boxing fans going crazy about them. Joshua’s fans are totally on board with him. They believe that he’s the greatest despite the fact that he’s beaten anyone good yet.
The only halfway decent opponent that Joshua has fought since turning pro was Dillian Whyte, who fought with one good arm in their fight in 2015. Whyte had a shoulder problem before that fight, and the injury got worse after he staggered Joshua with a left hand to the head in round 2. That was Joshua’s best opponent he’s faced at the pro level, and he only had one good arm. The rest of the guys Joshua has fought have been no hopers like Eric Molina, Dominic Breazeale, Charles Martin, Gary Cornish, Kevin Johnson, Raphael Zumbano Love, Jason Gavern, Michael Sprott, Denis Bakhtov, Konstantin Airich, Matt Skelton, Matt Legg, Hector Avila, Dorian Darch, Hrvoje Kisicek, Paul Butlin and Emanuele Leo. These are not good fighters. Even Joshua’s fight against Wladimir isn’t a good one, because Wladimir is so past his prime.
“He was my sparring partner in 2013 when I trained for Kubrat Pulev,” said Wladimir about Joshua. Maybe he will be the biggest start in boxing. Is it too early for him, too late for me?”
I think Wladimir’s only chance of beating Joshua is if he throws some actual punches early in the fight. It’s not that I think Joshua is great. I see him as overrated. It’s just that if Wladimir doesn’t throw any punches like in his last fight against Tyson Fury in 2015, then he’s going to lose the fight. It would be the same thing if Wladimir were facing Luis Ortiz. If he doesn’t throw punches against Ortiz, then he’ll get blasted out by him.