By Scott Gilfoid: Anthony Joshua says Deontay Wilder won’t make it to the 7th round against him in speaking to @SkySportsBoxing. IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Joshua (23-1, 22 KOs) is trying to rebuild his image in the eyes of the fans after the way he was blown out in 7 rounds by the chubby 268-lb Andy Ruiz Jr. last June in New York.
So basically, Joshua, 29, is saying he’s going to fight the talented 6’7″ Wilder (42-0-1, 41 KOs) in an exact opposite manner that he fought Ruiz Jr. on December 7. Joshua looked terrified of Ruiz’s power in that fight, and now he’s trying to convince the boxing public that he’s going to go right at Wilder. It’s hard to believe.
Joshua says Wilder won’t be there by 7th round
“He wouldn’t be there in the seventh round. I would go in to knock him out. This is a serious fight, I ain’t going to go in there to try and outbox him for 12 rounds,” said Joshua to skysports.com.
It could be disastrous for Joshua to go straight into the teeth of Deontay’s power by trying to slug with him, but if that’s what he wants to do, so be it. Right now, Joshua is talking boldly about what he’s going to do against Wilder, but will he still be saying the same thing when he’s scheduled to fight him?
Can Joshua handle Wilder’s power?
The fact that Joshua was bowled over by Ruiz Jr. and Wladimir Klitschko suggests that he won’t be able to take more than one or two solid right hands from a puncher like Deontay. Heck, Joshua has been hurt by a number of fighters during his short professional career. Here’s a list of all the fighters that have hurt Joshua:
- Dillian Whyte
- Alexander Povetkin
- Carlos Takam
- Andy Ruiz Jr.
- Wladimir Klitschko
Considering that Joshua couldn’t handle Ruiz’s power, it tells you loud and clear that probably won’t be able to take more than one or two punches from Deontay before he nose dives into the canvas.
We don’t know what would have happened to Joshua in his fight with Joseph Parker, because the referee kept the two far apart by pulling the New Zealand fighter away from him when he would try and mix it with him.
Joshua spoiled for 12 rounds in Ruiz Jr. rematch
Although Joshua avenged his loss to Ruiz last December, he did it in an unimpressive manner by running around the ring, and holding him at every opportunity. You can argue that Joshua’s spoiling fighting style was one that only his wily promoter Eddie Hearn would love. It was ugly negative style that Joshua used against Ruiz, and not exciting for many boxing fans that saw the fight.
The right way for Joshua to have avenged his loss to Ruiz would have been to stand in the pocket, and trade with him like a warrior. In other words, fight like Deontay Wilder. Instead, Joshua used the Wladimir Klitschko spoiling template to run and hug his way to a dreadful looking decision.
Joshua will be defending against either Kubrat Pulev or Oleksandr Usyk next in April or May. Hearn thinks it’ll be Pulev (28-1, 14 KOs), who Joshua ends up fighting next. The 38-year-old Pulev is Joshua’s International Boxing Federation mandatory challenger. It seems like a big waste of Joshua’s time to devote the first half of 2020 fighting a guy that few fans want to see him fight, but he values his titles and doesn’t want to vacate any of them.
It’s fair to say that Joshua has a wrong-headed view of how fans see fighters with multiple titles. He seems to think having more titles is better than having fewer, but that’s not the case. The fans give more respect to fighters that take on the BEST opposition, and they no longer care about guys that collect paper titles, and face mediocre opposition.
More isn’t better when it comes to boxing. Look at the many champions in the past and present that have collected multiple titles, and yet STILL haven’t become popular. Here’s a small list:
- Terence Crawford
- Oleksander Usyk
- Vasiliy Lomachenko
- Wladimir Klitschko
- Antonio Tarver
