Most boxing fans would agree that inside and out of the ring, Anthony Joshua is a fine heavyweight prospect. He clearly grafts in the gym and seemingly doesn’t cut corners when it comes to his strength and conditioning. Despite the brevity of his professional bouts to date affording him little opportunity to showcase it, he’s shown himself to have good movement. And as fans of combat sports relish in a fighter, he’s got a nasty streak in the ring with explosive power. Outside the ring, he’s surrounded by a good promotional team, comes across as hugely personable and has certainly taken heed of his media training. The makings of a great fighter, ambassador for the sport and overall star are all there. But let’s not get carried away before Joshua has actually done anything to warrant the hype that is already being laden upon him.
Following every Joshua fight, the boxing media, Joshua’s promotional team, casual fans and even some hardcore ones, heap praise upon him. They declare him ready to beat any heavyweight in the world and deftly so (although with the current lacklustre state of heavyweight boxing, that isn’t the claim it might once have been). They pay no regard for the fact that Joshua hasn’t experienced a single test in any of his opponents as a professional.
I like Joshua and I’m optimistic for his future in the sport. Though the assessment many have of his current attainment in the sport is much exaggerated in contrast to reality.
Joshua has fought 14 professional fights, each one wining by way of KO or TKO. It’s an achievement that can’t be denied but one that needs to be put in context of who he’s fought. With no disrespect to Joshua’s opponents, to date he’s not fought anyone in what has been a 50/50 fight. For all intents and purposes, they’ve served the purpose of keeping Joshua active (thus keeping his promoter and broadcaster happy as they build his profile), padding his record and demonstrating his undeniably ferocious power. What they don’t provide is the slightest challenge. And to be candid, none have turned up to fight or shown any confidence that they can get the W, let alone survive the first few rounds, through anything other than luck. It’s not an attitude that can be credited. Therefore neither can Joshua’s record at 14-0 be given the acclaim many wish to bestow upon it. For Joshua’s opponents, Joshua merely represents a nice payday and a negligible puncher’s chance of derailing the hype train.
Joshua’s future opponent, Dillian Whyte, presents something different. While he’s still an underdog, as amateurs, Whyte handed Joshua an L and even a knockdown in the process. As a result, Whyte’s confidence is high and he doesn’t seem to fear Joshua or see his own defeat as a routine occurrence. It should make for a good fight with genuine needle which has already manifested itself in accompanying pre-fight friction between the two. Joshua was admittedly raw when they met as amateurs but it won’t change the fact that he’s tasted defeat at the hands of Whyte. I still expect a Joshua win but it’ll make for a different dynamic and hopefully a longer fight and a sterner test for Joshua.
Objectively speaking, some of the hysteria around Anthony Joshua is understandable. While his opponents haven’t turned up to fight, some have promised durability which was considered a test and a gauge for Joshua’s power. Yet he remains a juggernaut regardless of how teak tough the opposition has been billed as. Kevin Johnson went 12 rounds with Vitali Klitschko while Joshua despatched him in two rounds. Admittedly, Johnson’s fight with Klitschko was in 2009 and the former’s punch resistance can be expected to have taken a hit (no pun intended) since. However, power alone doesn’t maketh the boxer.
Cast your minds back a few years and David Price was being afforded a similar status, albeit not to the same lofty heights as is currently given to Joshua, and every opponent became a victim. Still, I recall remarking in the Matt Skelton fight that Price was caught a few times and didn’t react comfortably when in receipt of what seemed like fairly modest shots. That was proven in his subsequent two fights with Tony Thompson and his most recent fight with Erkan Teper. For everything his potent right hand was and probably still is, Price couldn’t take a shot and upon that being realised, mentally he’s not been the same fighter since.
Hopefully that won’t be the case for Joshua. But until we’ve seen he can take a shot, trade in a war and keep his mettle when the pressure is on, we only have one piece of the puzzle that is how complete a fighter Anthony Joshua is. Anthony Joshua could arguably stop any fighter given a clean shot. Nonetheless, in the heavyweight division, where there’s in excess of 200lbs behind a shot, most fighters could. The question is how they respond when taking a shot themselves.
The heavyweight division has always been considered the premier division within the sport. It appeals to our primal desire for gladiatorial battle between the biggest and strongest fighters with the most knockouts and knockdowns anticipated due to the sheer weight behind each punch thrown. Yet in recent years, the division has provided us with a plethora of borefests with so-called fighters who show little conditioning, mettle and athleticism and even less excitement. Every time a new prospect is able to rack up a few consecutive wins via fairly impressive knockouts, they’re therefore touted as a potential future star of the division. Although the desperation for a saviour of heavyweight boxing isn’t new. Indeed, the March 2004 issue of The Ring Magazine gave the cover to Audley Harrison, Dominick Guinn and Joe Mesi with the headline ‘who will replace Lewis, Tyson & Holyfield’.
In contrast to the current crop of heavyweight boxers, Anthony Joshua’s achievements are greatly overstated in a currently largely moribund division. Assuming he is the total package, which I think he will be, there are few heavyweights that wouldn’t be underdogs going into fights with him and even fewer that could overturn their underdog status within the fight. Wladimir Klitschko and a pre-layoff David Haye are probably the only two heavyweight fighters in recent years that many would opine to be able to able to wrest the W from Joshua. Like or loathe him, Tyson Fury would come to fight as would Deontay Wilder. Otherwise, most opponents in the division would probably go the same way as Joshua’s previous opponents. Before his defeat to Erkan Teper, David Price was touted as a potential live opponent for Joshua in a fight that would undoubtedly see someone knocked out (and early) with two huge punchers. Alas, given Price’s confidence is surely at rock bottom, and with the exposure of him seemingly being chinny, he’d likely crumble upon Joshua’s first clean landing shot. As a result, that fight’s now dead in the water.
Joshua needs to bank rounds, experience and credible tests via live opponents on his record before we can place him on the pedestal so many have already hoisted him upon amidst all the fanfare. Hopefully the Dillian Whyte fight will be the first to achieve that with an opponent that doesn’t seem to fear Joshua.
Given time, Johsua certainly has the attributes to eventually fulfil the hype many have accorded him. Boxing just needs to stop getting carried away before time and allow Joshua to build himself as the complete fighter many have prematurely declared him to be.
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I like Joshua and I’m optimistic for his future in the sport. Though the assessment many have of his current attainment in the sport is much exaggerated in contrast to reality.
Joshua has fought 14 professional fights, each one wining by way of KO or TKO. It’s an achievement that can’t be denied but one that needs to be put in context of who he’s fought. With no disrespect to Joshua’s opponents, to date he’s not fought anyone in what has been a 50/50 fight. For all intents and purposes, they’ve served the purpose of keeping Joshua active (thus keeping his promoter and broadcaster happy as they build his profile), padding his record and demonstrating his undeniably ferocious power. What they don’t provide is the slightest challenge. And to be candid, none have turned up to fight or shown any confidence that they can get the W, let alone survive the first few rounds, through anything other than luck. It’s not an attitude that can be credited. Therefore neither can Joshua’s record at 14-0 be given the acclaim many wish to bestow upon it. For Joshua’s opponents, Joshua merely represents a nice payday and a negligible puncher’s chance of derailing the hype train.
Joshua’s future opponent, Dillian Whyte, presents something different. While he’s still an underdog, as amateurs, Whyte handed Joshua an L and even a knockdown in the process. As a result, Whyte’s confidence is high and he doesn’t seem to fear Joshua or see his own defeat as a routine occurrence. It should make for a good fight with genuine needle which has already manifested itself in accompanying pre-fight friction between the two. Joshua was admittedly raw when they met as amateurs but it won’t change the fact that he’s tasted defeat at the hands of Whyte. I still expect a Joshua win but it’ll make for a different dynamic and hopefully a longer fight and a sterner test for Joshua.
Objectively speaking, some of the hysteria around Anthony Joshua is understandable. While his opponents haven’t turned up to fight, some have promised durability which was considered a test and a gauge for Joshua’s power. Yet he remains a juggernaut regardless of how teak tough the opposition has been billed as. Kevin Johnson went 12 rounds with Vitali Klitschko while Joshua despatched him in two rounds. Admittedly, Johnson’s fight with Klitschko was in 2009 and the former’s punch resistance can be expected to have taken a hit (no pun intended) since. However, power alone doesn’t maketh the boxer.
Cast your minds back a few years and David Price was being afforded a similar status, albeit not to the same lofty heights as is currently given to Joshua, and every opponent became a victim. Still, I recall remarking in the Matt Skelton fight that Price was caught a few times and didn’t react comfortably when in receipt of what seemed like fairly modest shots. That was proven in his subsequent two fights with Tony Thompson and his most recent fight with Erkan Teper. For everything his potent right hand was and probably still is, Price couldn’t take a shot and upon that being realised, mentally he’s not been the same fighter since.
Hopefully that won’t be the case for Joshua. But until we’ve seen he can take a shot, trade in a war and keep his mettle when the pressure is on, we only have one piece of the puzzle that is how complete a fighter Anthony Joshua is. Anthony Joshua could arguably stop any fighter given a clean shot. Nonetheless, in the heavyweight division, where there’s in excess of 200lbs behind a shot, most fighters could. The question is how they respond when taking a shot themselves.
The heavyweight division has always been considered the premier division within the sport. It appeals to our primal desire for gladiatorial battle between the biggest and strongest fighters with the most knockouts and knockdowns anticipated due to the sheer weight behind each punch thrown. Yet in recent years, the division has provided us with a plethora of borefests with so-called fighters who show little conditioning, mettle and athleticism and even less excitement. Every time a new prospect is able to rack up a few consecutive wins via fairly impressive knockouts, they’re therefore touted as a potential future star of the division. Although the desperation for a saviour of heavyweight boxing isn’t new. Indeed, the March 2004 issue of The Ring Magazine gave the cover to Audley Harrison, Dominick Guinn and Joe Mesi with the headline ‘who will replace Lewis, Tyson & Holyfield’.
In contrast to the current crop of heavyweight boxers, Anthony Joshua’s achievements are greatly overstated in a currently largely moribund division. Assuming he is the total package, which I think he will be, there are few heavyweights that wouldn’t be underdogs going into fights with him and even fewer that could overturn their underdog status within the fight. Wladimir Klitschko and a pre-layoff David Haye are probably the only two heavyweight fighters in recent years that many would opine to be able to able to wrest the W from Joshua. Like or loathe him, Tyson Fury would come to fight as would Deontay Wilder. Otherwise, most opponents in the division would probably go the same way as Joshua’s previous opponents. Before his defeat to Erkan Teper, David Price was touted as a potential live opponent for Joshua in a fight that would undoubtedly see someone knocked out (and early) with two huge punchers. Alas, given Price’s confidence is surely at rock bottom, and with the exposure of him seemingly being chinny, he’d likely crumble upon Joshua’s first clean landing shot. As a result, that fight’s now dead in the water.
Joshua needs to bank rounds, experience and credible tests via live opponents on his record before we can place him on the pedestal so many have already hoisted him upon amidst all the fanfare. Hopefully the Dillian Whyte fight will be the first to achieve that with an opponent that doesn’t seem to fear Joshua.
Given time, Johsua certainly has the attributes to eventually fulfil the hype many have accorded him. Boxing just needs to stop getting carried away before time and allow Joshua to build himself as the complete fighter many have prematurely declared him to be.
