Martin offers to fight Joshua April 9th

[GlobalBox]

Two web sites (scene and talk) saying Martin/his team offered to come over and defend the title on April 9th and apparently been turned down.

Surely not, AJ will never get a better chance to win the title, guessing there has to be a certain amount of poetic licence from Martin, if not true, Hearn should call his bluff.

[the_doctor]

Joshua/Hearn etc have repeatedly said that the goal is to win the title and defend it - once you win one, you lose control as the mandatories start coming.

Short-term, Joshua for a version of the World title sells out Wembley easy but long-term he needs to build experience before taking the final step up.

[davie]

I've said I think they should pace Joshua bu t how do you refuse a chance as easy as this.
Martin offering to come to the UK?
Of course I don't know how big a pinch of salt I should take with Martins comments but you can't knock that back.

[Horse]

Joshua/Hearn etc have repeatedly said that the goal is to win the title and defend it - once you win one, you lose control as the mandatories start coming.

IBF mandatories are generally pretty awful.

Joshua probably won't be given a mandatory to spook him for a while if he won.

[Boxing Prospect]

No IBF mandatory for about a year as it is, the IBF rankings aren't particularly murderers row (the division is widely regarded as crap anyway and the best are seemingly looking elsewhere (Sasha, Fury, Wilder, Wlad and Ortiz probably won't become IBF mandatory in the next year)...biggest remaining threat is who...Pulev?

[stevedoc]

AJ should wait he could well win the IBF belt from martin but it would put him in a place where he has to take fights he didn't want yet.
Let him wait another few fights before going for a title so he's ready to step up

[Boxing Prospect]

Prior to Martin winning the belt the IBF rankings were
1. Vyacheslav Glazkov
2. NOT RATED
3. Charles Martin
4. Erkan Teper
5. Anthony Joshua
6. Carlos Takam
7. Joshua Parker
8. Steve Cunningham
9. Andy Ruiz
10. Bermane Stiverne
11. Kubrat Pulev
12. Robert Helenius
13. Derek Chisora
14. Alexander Ustinov
15. Andrey Fedosov

Is there anyone there anyone there that Joshua should be afraid of facing early next year?

[davie]

No IBF mandatory for about a year as it is, the IBF rankings aren't particularly murderers row (the division is widely regarded as crap anyway and the best are seemingly looking elsewhere (Sasha, Fury, Wilder, Wlad and Ortiz probably won't become IBF mandatory in the next year)...biggest remaining threat is who...Pulev?

So, beat Martin, hand pick voluntary defences against the kind of names you would otherwise have fought this year anyway, every one on PPV guaranteed.
Then get hit with Pulev 3 fights and 12 months from now, a winnable but tough fIght (I'd make Joshua a narrow under dog if he took it now but it'd be winnable, 12 months from now I'd fancy AJ)
18 months on and you have all the experience required to start thinking unifications and mega fights

[davie]

Prior to Martin winning the belt the IBF rankings were
1. Vyacheslav Glazkov
2. NOT RATED
3. Charles Martin
4. Erkan Teper
5. Anthony Joshua
6. Carlos Takam
7. Joshua Parker
8. Steve Cunningham
9. Andy Ruiz
10. Bermane Stiverne
11. Kubrat Pulev
12. Robert Helenius
13. Derek Chisora
14. Alexander Ustinov
15. Andrey Fedosov

Is there anyone there anyone there that Joshua should be afraid of facing early next year?

A number of names in there you would expect to see him fight over the next 12 months anyway, to climb the rankings.
Now he could hand pick them as voluntaries and the likelyhood is someone like Stiverne, Takam, Pulev or Parker is likely to end up being your mandatory next year.

[fizzjambo]

I dunno, that Joshua Parker sounds like a mean dude..............

[Boxing Prospect]

I dunno, that Joshua Parker sounds like a mean dude..............

Their mistake, not mine

[tobyh5]

Just because a champion is easy to beat does not mean you should take it. They have repeatedly said that once you step up, you cannot go back. Take the shot and they cannot pick out people for a learning reason while developing.

I am not a fan of AJ to be honest but they clearly think he will not just win a title but become a dominant force if they develop him correctly. So for that reason, of bloody course they should turn it down. Would need an ounce of intelligence to see why and to agree

[Deadendgeneration]

Just because a champion is easy to beat does not mean you should take it. They have repeatedly said that once you step up, you cannot go back. Take the shot and they cannot pick out people for a learning reason while developing.

I am not a fan of AJ to be honest but they clearly think he will not just win a title but become a dominant force if they develop him correctly. So for that reason, of bloody course they should turn it down. Would need an ounce of intelligence to see why and to agree

Kell Brook fights in, what has been the most competitive division in boxing in recent yeG.ars. Check out the murderers' row he's taken on since winning the IBF. To say nothing of the fact that 1 loss doesn't mean you can't come back, especially if you're young and still learning. As others have said, the list contains thek ind of names he needs to be fighting in order to progress anyway.

[the_doctor]

The problem with Joshua is that he is surrounded by so much hype. One loss doesn't mean that's the end of it, but it would lose them a lot of momentum with the casual fan with their bottomless wallets and love of VIP areas and PPV.

Plus, why fight Martin in April at the O2 in front of 20,000 when it would fill Wembley in the summer?

Regardless, I reckon Martin is either full of s**t or that the offer they put to Hearn was derisory.

[whiskey]

Plus, why fight Martin in April at the O2 in front of 20,000 when it would fill Wembley in the summer?

At first I smiled at this, but I could actually envisage it. Hot sunny day, decent card and then Joshua comes on when it's getting dark and the atmosphere is ready.

Brits would love their own heavyweight champion and whilst it won't burst capacity I reckon it would do well.

General sports fans would be all over it, it would be like a festival.

[mickey1975]

Plus, why fight Martin in April at the O2 in front of 20,000 when it would fill Wembley in the summer?

At first I smiled at this, but I could actually envisage it. Hot sunny day, decent card and then Joshua comes on when it's getting dark and the atmosphere is ready.

Brits would love their own heavyweight champion and whilst it won't burst capacity I reckon it would do well.

General sports fans would be all over it, it would be like a festival.

We have THE Heavyweight champion. We don't need a plastic one as well.

[keirw]

He should take the fight, there's no real dangermen in the rankings (other than maybe Parker down the line).
I see no reason why he can't continue to learn after beating Martin, you could even call Martin a learning fight, given that he will be the first tall southpaw Joshua has fought.

[Stuarty]

Plus, why fight Martin in April at the O2 in front of 20,000 when it would fill Wembley in the summer?

At first I smiled at this, but I could actually envisage it. Hot sunny day, decent card and then Joshua comes on when it's getting dark and the atmosphere is ready.

Brits would love their own heavyweight champion and whilst it won't burst capacity I reckon it would do well.

General sports fans would be all over it, it would be like a festival.

Tyson Fury?

[Stuarty]

He should take the fight, there's no real dangermen in the rankings (other than maybe Parker down the line).
I see no reason why he can't continue to learn after beating Martin, you could even call Martin a learning fight, given that he will be the first tall southpaw Joshua has fought.

I agree. He's already said he wants Parker sooner rather than later anyway so what difference does it make if the IBF title happens to be on the line? Martin is a very winnable fight for AJ and if he's offering him the fight he should grab the chance with both hands.

[whiskey]

Plus, why fight Martin in April at the O2 in front of 20,000 when it would fill Wembley in the summer?

At first I smiled at this, but I could actually envisage it. Hot sunny day, decent card and then Joshua comes on when it's getting dark and the atmosphere is ready.

Brits would love their own heavyweight champion and whilst it won't burst capacity I reckon it would do well.

General sports fans would be all over it, it would be like a festival.

We have THE Heavyweight champion. We don't need a plastic one as well.

I don't know why f*ck I wrote that bit Mickey to be fair.

I suppose I meant "Sky".

[freddydoesdallas]

If this is genuine and they don't take it up then it is an absolute joke. How can you have a fighter on PPV who won't face the weakest champion out there?

Anyone who pays for one of his fights after this should be lined up and shot for being stupid

[Yes We Can]

I'd reject it to. Eddie is doing the right thing here and likely listening to the people around AJ.

He had a wake up call against DW, do you really want to chuck him in their with a Big, rangy, Southpaw so soon? He has zero pro experience against that as a pro, and frankly nobody really knows how talented (Oor not as the case may be) Martin is.

He'd be better off passing the Tiger test before taking this shot.

[ThereByTheGrace]

I don't think Joshua is all he is cracked up to be, think its a matter of time before he is exposed

[lillywhite14]

It's an interesting one. If true then it must be very tempting.

He could feasibly beat Martin ( not saying it's an easy fight ) then defend against Takam and Pulev before facing likely mandatory Glazkov ( given how his last fight ended I think the IBF will give him another shot ) which then leaves him free for another year mandatory wise.

Seems unlikely it will happen of course.

[lillywhite14]

I don't think Joshua is all he is cracked up to be, think its a matter of time before he is exposed

He needs a new trainer

If you owned Ferrari, would you have an unproven, middle of the road driver racing your Formula 1 car?
For me Joshua ain't showed much improvement since turning over. I think his 'team' are merely getting him into physical condition for fights as opposed to teaching him to work on his weaknesses and trying to improve his ring skills.