Anthony Joshua vs. Charles Martin (c) - April 9th 2016

[Rob3_142]

Just read an article on Boxing News by Danny Flexen about AJ's next opposition, and the writer puts together 5 potential fighters for the upcoming 9 April fight. Quite frankly the most ridiculous and poorly assembled list imaginable.

1. Kubrat Pulev (22-1). Although not the worst suggestion on this list to jump straight into a top 5 boxer at AJ's position, is arguably an unwise move.
2. David Allen (8-0-1). Who even is this guy? 8 fights in and not even top 10 UK.
3. Sam Sexton (21-3). Blimey, one place above Allen in the UK HW rankings. Lost to Price and Chisora twice. What would this fight prove?
4. Eddie Chambers (42-4). Right, this list is starting to get silly. Defeats do include Klitchko, Povetkin and Adamek, but this guy now reaching his twilight, and bumbling around the top 50. Step up in class of fighter?
5. Hughie Fury (18-0). This is the only fighter in this list which remotely catches my attention. Gone 10 rounds a couple times so might be able to go rounds, but so far only fought bums. Still think that would be a step back in class for AJ.

Chisora has been made mandatory for the European belt (goodness knows why) but rumour has it Helenius will vacate, potentially paving the way for a fight between AJ and Chisora for the European. Number 2 (Povetkin - mandatory for WBC) and number 3 (Klitchko - rematch for IBO and WBO in the summer) leaves number 3 (Joshua) in perfect striking position for the European, and with the April 9 fight still open could be perfect.

[Ally-M1]

Looks like it's going to be Joshua vs Chisora for the European bauble... Certainly moving closer.

http://www.boxingnewsonline.net/anthony ... ean-title/

[wesshaw1985]

Looks like it's going to be Joshua vs Chisora for the European bauble... Certainly moving closer.

http://www.boxingnewsonline.net/anthony ... ean-title/

Good fight, sellable, title on the line, promoters get along.
ticks all the boxes...

[Rob3_142]

Looks like it's going to be Joshua vs Chisora for the European bauble... Certainly moving closer.

http://www.boxingnewsonline.net/anthony ... ean-title/

http://www.sportinglife.com/boxing/news ... -sauerland

Just waiting for the vacation of the European belt by Helenius, although it is still only rumour

[wesshaw1985]

http://www.BS.com/joshua-chiso ... rn--100554

[J]

Eddie Hearn has said that its been great to watch Aj's rise not only as a fighter but as a 'brand'. What a bell end. How is AJ a 'brand'??? He is a sportsman full stop and not that well known a one. He hasn't any significant endorsements or prodUcts. Michael Jordan is a brand. So is David Beckham.

Joshua is not.aybe he used to be when he was in the business of serving up drugs in Watford, but not now....

The tool seems to have got his business knowledge from the Apprentice fools who get fired quickly.

Anyway

Eddie is a knob heads. AJ is no Brand!

if that is true then fair play to the lad for turning his life round and achieving a lot more than us lot sat here criticizing him

[UrbanFox]

If this is more about money than boxing and the Whyte fight figures are true, why not send a contract to Shannon Briggs?

Yes, he is past his best but he can still punch and can take AJ a few rounds. His whole 'Let's Go Champ' will attract casual fans. He will be vocal during press conferences which will help PPV.

I think the board would be morally sinking to new lows if they sanctioned that. Briggs could get killed by Joshua at this point in time. He'd take a hell of a beating for sure and he took a vicious one off of Vitali like 5 years ago.

God, that would be dreadful to witness.

I completely disagree.

He has been staying in good shape and active (against random opponents yes). He still has world class experience and is a vocal opponent.
It would attract the casual masses.

Having said that, it now seems that Hearn is going down the EBU road which makes more sense.

[wesshaw1985]

http://www.BS.com/chisora-if-i ... ce--100595
Chisora talking an AJ fight down, saying he should face Price instead...

[Cyclops]

http://www.BS.com/chisora-if-i ... ce--100595
Chisora talking an AJ fight down, saying he should face Price instead...

Chisora was calling out Charles Martin in the post fight press conference. Whether that's realistic or not I don't know but it's a no brainer for Del really if that can be made.

[dbf]

Stiverne? No3 with the BC and looked pedestrian last time out.

[crusader]

Just read an article on Boxing News by Danny Flexen about AJ's next opposition, and the writer puts together 5 potential fighters for the upcoming 9 April fight. Quite frankly the most ridiculous and poorly assembled list imaginable.

1. Kubrat Pulev (22-1). Although not the worst suggestion on this list to jump straight into a top 5 boxer at AJ's position, is arguably an unwise move.
2. David Allen (8-0-1). Who even is this guy? 8 fights in and not even top 10 UK.
3. Sam Sexton (21-3). Blimey, one place above Allen in the UK HW rankings. Lost to Price and Chisora twice. What would this fight prove?
4. Eddie Chambers (42-4). Right, this list is starting to get silly. Defeats do include Klitchko, Povetkin and Adamek, but this guy now reaching his twilight, and bumbling around the top 50. Step up in class of fighter?
5. Hughie Fury (18-0). This is the only fighter in this list which remotely catches my attention. Gone 10 rounds a couple times so might be able to go rounds, but so far only fought bums. Still think that would be a step back in class for AJ.

Chisora has been made mandatory for the European belt (goodness knows why) but rumour has it Helenius will vacate, potentially paving the way for a fight between AJ and Chisora for the European. Number 2 (Povetkin - mandatory for WBC) and number 3 (Klitchko - rematch for IBO and WBO in the summer) leaves number 3 (Joshua) in perfect striking position for the European, and with the April 9 fight still open could be perfect.

LOL

Who the fornicate is David Allen?

[mullenman]

Eddie is all about making the big fight for the fans
The fans mostly want aj v haye

But bottlejob Eddie will stay as far away from haye as possible because he knows it's a likely knockout.

Eddie is great at his job for making cash for match room but when he says it's what the fans want he only says that when it suits him

Aj v haye would be in a different league to khan and brook fight.

[jamiem26]

Ron Lewis is reporting that Jennings is the top target for April...

[wesshaw1985]

Ron Lewis is reporting that Jennings is the top target for April...

good opponent. Not the right one at this point though I don't think.
coming off 2 losses, Jennings is quite a decent boxer. Only lost to Wlad and Ortiz, has beaten Perez, Szpilka and Fedosov.
Tough match for AJ at this point...

[keirw]

Just read an article on Boxing News by Danny Flexen about AJ's next opposition, and the writer puts together 5 potential fighters for the upcoming 9 April fight. Quite frankly the most ridiculous and poorly assembled list imaginable.

1. Kubrat Pulev (22-1). Although not the worst suggestion on this list to jump straight into a top 5 boxer at AJ's position, is arguably an unwise move.
2. David Allen (8-0-1). Who even is this guy? 8 fights in and not even top 10 UK.
3. Sam Sexton (21-3). Blimey, one place above Allen in the UK HW rankings. Lost to Price and Chisora twice. What would this fight prove?
4. Eddie Chambers (42-4). Right, this list is starting to get silly. Defeats do include Klitchko, Povetkin and Adamek, but this guy now reaching his twilight, and bumbling around the top 50. Step up in class of fighter?
5. Hughie Fury (18-0). This is the only fighter in this list which remotely catches my attention. Gone 10 rounds a couple times so might be able to go rounds, but so far only fought bums. Still think that would be a step back in class for AJ.

Chisora has been made mandatory for the European belt (goodness knows why) but rumour has it Helenius will vacate, potentially paving the way for a fight between AJ and Chisora for the European. Number 2 (Povetkin - mandatory for WBC) and number 3 (Klitchko - rematch for IBO and WBO in the summer) leaves number 3 (Joshua) in perfect striking position for the European, and with the April 9 fight still open could be perfect.

That list is terrible, apart from Pulev, I quite like AJ vs Pulev, it would be a step up in class but I think it's a winnable fight for AJ.
Admittedly, I am talking as a fan and I completely understand that his management will no doubt be looking at other routes.

[stevedoc]

AJ won't be put in with anyone that's a real risk just yet the whyte fight showed that he's not the superman we thought he was he's not become a bad fighter just that he's still a bit raw at times,del boy would be a good fight for AJ as he's not a banger

[asdfjkl]

Stiverne? No3 with the BC and looked pedestrian last time out.

That would basically be a mismatch, only Americans think Stiverne is any good lol.

[Rob3_142]

http://www.BS.com/chisora-if-i ... ce--100595
Chisora talking an AJ fight down, saying he should face Price instead...

Putting Price in the ring with AJ would be like putting a lamb to the slaughter. Price has a chin like a Fabergé egg, and doubt would even go 3 minutes. It sounds like they're trying to put the AJ-Chisora fight together, but you know what Chisora is like. He'll probably demand 60% or something, even though AJ is clearly the pulling power for the fight. They have to make that fight happen as it's perfect for AJ's progress, and it's for the European belt which he's after.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/other-spor ... n-lonergan

Lonergan, Joe Parker's promoter, is looking to dip into the UK/US market in 6-12 months, but I guess all parties would avoid that one unless it was mandatory?

[wesshaw1985]

Hearn mentioned Chisora, Jennings, Stiverne, Duhaupas, Takam and a few others today...

[Webbo911]

Hearn mentioned Chisora, Jennings, Stiverne, Duhaupas, Takam and a few others today...

Wouldn't mind any of those.

Duhaupas, Jennings and Takam have all been chinned recently, but they've gone into the later rounds with decent company.

Stiverne took some flush bombs off Wilder so might be interesting for a bit.

Chisora is the obvious choice if they're going the PPV route. He's looked pretty shocking as of late though.

[fightfan95]

not regarding the opponent but Rocky Fielding may be on the undercard.

[GlobalBox]

It's an interesting one as Chisora is the logical choice plus it would give Joshua another belt should he be successful as it would be for the vacant EBU.

However, they may not rush into a decision before the end of the month as the IBF ratings are due out and Joshua has every chance of leaping from number 5 to mandatory as 1 and 3 fought for the title in Jan i.e. Martin/Glazkov, the loser Glazkov is out for a year so he is not coming back in the ratings. The number 2 spot was vacant as they often do anyway. Teper was number 4 but surely they remove him as he has the drug stuff hanging over him whether true or not. That surely puts Joshua upto number 1 from 5 and makes him Martins mandatory. Martin has been given 1 year from fight date to box his mandatory so that would mean some time in Jan 2017 if he takes his full year.

If all the above happens Hearn may decide to pursue the American angle and box perhaps Stiverne or Jennings in April to try and get the big man more noticed in the states and perhaps put pressure on Martin to take the mandatory a bit earlier than Jan next year, I am sure Eddie would love Joshua/Martin over here for his big Christmas show at the end of 2016, the words Christmas Present for AJ etc spring to mind.

Still it's all guess work really and technically he does not have to do anything to get the Martin fight he has to have it by Jan 2017 as long as the ratings go how they look like they will.

My guess for April would still be Chisora especially with Fury now making noises about wanting to knock out AJ after Klitschko so perhaps he does not have to go chasing Martin.

[Batley18]

The Whyte fight really has moved the goalposts a bit. I am not too worried about his chin, he got hit by a big punch and reacted well to it, but the issue was the zero head movement. I would like to see him up against someone like Mike Perez.

[Rob3_142]

It's an interesting one as Chisora is the logical choice plus it would give Joshua another belt should he be successful as it would be for the vacant EBU.

However, they may not rush into a decision before the end of the month as the IBF ratings are due out and Joshua has every chance of leaping from number 5 to mandatory as 1 and 3 fought for the title in Jan i.e. Martin/Glazkov, the loser Glazkov is out for a year so he is not coming back in the ratings. The number 2 spot was vacant as they often do anyway. Teper was number 4 but surely they remove him as he has the drug stuff hanging over him whether true or not. That surely puts Joshua upto number 1 from 5 and makes him Martins mandatory. Martin has been given 1 year from fight date to box his mandatory so that would mean some time in Jan 2017 if he takes his full year.

If all the above happens Hearn may decide to pursue the American angle and box perhaps Stiverne or Jennings in April to try and get the big man more noticed in the states and perhaps put pressure on Martin to take the mandatory a bit earlier than Jan next year, I am sure Eddie would love Joshua/Martin over here for his big Christmas show at the end of 2016, the words Christmas Present for AJ etc spring to mind.

Still it's all guess work really and technically he does not have to do anything to get the Martin fight he has to have it by Jan 2017 as long as the ratings go how they look like they will.

My guess for April would still be Chisora especially with Fury now making noises about wanting to knock out AJ after Klitschko so perhaps he does not have to go chasing Martin.

This is definitely a good call, and considering the IBF is definitely the most marked world title currently with the holder not looking overly convincing. I'm sure there's a few HWs that fancy them selves against Martin, but with AJ in a mandatory position, I can see Hearn dipping into the US market and shaping AJ up for a Christmas showdown.

I also agree that Joshua - Chisora will still go down in April. But if they both want the European, they're both essentially mandatory, so would have to meet each other. I think Hearn is mentioning other names so not to give anything away, but I'd be VERY surprised if that fight wasn't made. The numbers would be ridiculous, and Chisora knows how to sell a fight.

[ThereByTheGrace]

My guess is we will all be very disappointed in the opponent when announced. He'll get flattened when he steps up in class anyways