Klitschko tells Anthony Joshua to kick backside on April 9

wladimir4By Scott Gilfoid: In what could be a real bad omen, Wladimir Klitschko sent Anthony Joshua (15-0, 15 KOs) a Tweet today telling him to go out and kick backside in his title shot against IBF heavyweight champion Charles Martin (23-0-1, 21 KOs) on April 9 at the O2 Arena in London, UK. Wladimir was just beaten by Tyson Fury in his last fight in November of last year. It was easily the worst performance of Wladimir’s career.

If I’m Joshua, I’m not sure how I would take getting a thumb’s up Tweet from Wladimir. I mean, I’m kind of superstitious and something like that would have my spider senses going off the radar screen. I mean, the last thing that Joshua needs is to have Wladimir slapping him on the back and telling him to get Martin.

Martin is a very talented fighter and I don’t think he’s going to lose because he’s got the style and the size to defeat Joshua. It’s just a bad style match-up for Joshua, and I think his promoter Eddie Hearn royally blew it in deciding to let his golden goose take this dangerous fight.

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Charles Martin: I’m coming to the UK to make a statement!

Image: Charles Martin: I'm coming to the UK to make a statement!By Scott Gilfoid: IBF heavyweight champion Charles Martin (23-0-1, 21 KOs) says he’s going to be looking to make a big statement when he comes over to the UK in less than two months from now on April 9 to defend his title against Britain’s Anthony Joshua (15-0, 15 KOs) at the O2 Arena in London, England.

Martin, 29, says he wants to show the boxing world just how good he is, and by beating Joshua, he’ll be doing that. If Martin can come back to America with Joshua’s scalp in his possession, then it will be showing that he’s not a paper champion like some fans think he is.

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Anthony Joshua to fight Charles Martin on April 9 – Breaking news!

joshua44By Scott Gilfoid: Moments ago, Matchroom Sport promoter Eddie Hearn announced that 26-year-old Anthony Joshua (15-0, 15 KO) will be challenging IBF heavyweight champion Charles Martin (23-0-1, 21 KOs) in a fight on April 9 at the O2 Arena in London, UK. The Martin-Joshua fight will be televised on Sky Box Office pay-per-view. You can make an argument that the fight isn’t worthy of PPV, but given that Joshua is already fighting guys like Dillian Whyte on PPV, I guess this is something the British boxing public will gladly pay to see as well.

This is a big step up for the 6’6″ Joshua, who hasn’t done much to earn a world title shot other than beating 15 lesser fighters after turning pro in 2013.

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Anthony Joshua vs Charles Martin for the IBF World Heavyweight title at The O2 on April 9

Anthony Joshua MBE will challenge Charles Martin for the IBF World Heavyweight title at The O2 on April 9, live on Sky Sports Box Office.

Martin travels to England to make the first defence of the title that he landed in Brooklyn in January against Vyacheslav Glazkov, and the unbeaten Californian puts the belt on the line in his first fight outside the States.

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