By Barry Holbrook: Anthony Joshua says it doesn’t mean anything that the Ring Magazine title will be up for grabs on Saturday in his rematch with Oleksandr Usyk.
Joshua (24-2, 22 KOs) feels that the alphabet governing bodies are just looking to collect sanctioning fees from the fighters. As such, he doesn’t think the titles mean anything to him or define him.
AJ is right. The boxing public knows who the best fighters are at heavyweight, and all the useless titles that the four governing bodies have created are meaningless.
You can argue that there should only be one world title, which shouldn’t require sanctioning fees the champions need to pay to hold it.
If there were no titles on the line for Saturday’s Usyk vs. Joshua II rematch, the boxing public wouldn’t care, as it’s a fight that fans want to see regardless. Having titles on the line doesn’t add value to the battle. On the contrary, casual fans are oblivious to which belts are up for grab.
“Not much; it doesn’t mean s***. None of them do,” said Anthony Joshua when asked his thoughts on the Ring Magazine title being up for grabs for his fight against Oleksandr Usyk.
Anthony Joshua gives his honest thoughts on the heavyweight world title belts… pic.twitter.com/sfHYdqLpHt
— Michael Benson (@MichaelBensonn) August 18, 2022
“They want to take my sanctioning fees, and they make me look good when I go to the schools to show the kids. ‘Look at my belt.’ I’m the man. You’re the man,” said Joshua.
AJ is right about the governing bodies wanting to take sanctioning fees, and that money adds up when a champion holds more than one belt. If Joshua defeats Usyk, he would be doing himself a good favor by vacating the three belts and holding onto the Ring Magazine strap.
At this point in Joshua’s career, it’s unclear whether he cares about becoming the undisputed heavyweight champion. If so, Joshua will need to hold onto the three belts and face WBC champion Tyson Fury if he chooses to come out of retirement.
“All that stuff for me is it’s here today and gone tomorrow,” said Joshua about the belts. “I just never felt these belts made me. Eddie [Hearn] said he needs to speak to the sanctioning bodies now. Smooth some things over,” said Joshua.
