BoxRec

freddydoesdallas wrote:

Rob3_142 wrote: I'm very excited about Anthony Joshua, have been since he hit the scene, and have watched all his fights with the greatest of interest, but the last thing I'm going to do is wish the world away.

I think 'fighting soft defences against lesser opponents' is a bit of a vague statement. He's not going to go back to fighting British level fights after the Martin fight. Every fight after that will be a world level fight (which by the way he hasn't even done yet). Okay fine, the fighters on the IBF ranking list are not necessarily setting the boxing fraternity alight, but they're solid world level fighters which will continue to aid Joshua in his education. These fights will most certainly not 'reinforce his weaknesses' - that's just ridiculous. Anthony Joshua in his last fight fought Dillian Whyte and learned more in that fight than he had in the previous 14. Where would you rank Whyte in the list of possible opponents? Did that fight turn him into a worse fighter? Will fighting Martin making him a worse fighter?

Joshua will take on your list at one time or another (of course unless Haye retires before that happens), but there is definitely a process which you need to understand. There's a fine balance to picking the right route to success, either be that in winning world championships or earning the biggest purses. I personally believe that Joshua could fight a plastic bag, and they'd still sell out Wembley, so as far as I'm concerned (as I'm sure is the same for his management team) they'll concentrate on winning the world championship belts, and those mega blockbuster fights will come.

The other side of it is that if he holds belts, he will have mandatory defences, and if he's in ranking lists he'll have title eliminator matches, so fighting your wishlist becomes a little bit more tricky. Also Joshua is not the only person after these belts, Joseph Parker is up and coming and in the IBF rankings, Dominic Breazeale is also unbeaten and hungry, while Ortiz is bettering everything in his path. Other people have mandatory shots at Fury which have to be answered.

It's simple. If Joshua blows Martin away in April then there maybe a call for Joshua to call out the likes of Haye or Parker, and it'll rocket him up the rankings also. But if he limps past Martin or even gets beat, then his team will have to reassess, and maybe take an intermediate fight before a big September showdown with someone.

I get the process but what i don't get is fans wanting to follow it. That's the stuff promoters and managers force feed us to try and keep our expectations in check. The last thing the sport needs is for fans to be declaring that we think fighter X should fight fighter A, B or C before even contemplating a fight with fighter Y or Z.

C'mon man, let's live a little and call for the mega fights one after the other. Do we really want the heavyweight division to go the way of the middleweight division where we have the main champion going one way and then a couple of paper champions more than happy to sit back and defend their belts for a while waiting to see what happens?

BJS & Canelo should be knocking down GGG's door to fight him. Not making ridiculous financial claims to make sure it doesn't happen and protecting their bauble

Quigg or Frampton should be after Rigondeaux once they've had their fight.

Of course their are risks to it and they have things to weigh up but as a fan i want to see them fight asap!!!

Rob3_142 wrote:You can't help but get excited watching this though...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QgALfsEQIQ

simonwalsh wrote:Joshua will win this with consummate ease, and become just as marked as Martin has been. Still not convinced he's ready for that, but we'll wait and see. Hope I'm proved wrong.

davie wrote:What's the betting Haye and Fury are racing each other to get into the ring to call out AJ as soon as he stops Martin.

Fury wanting to pull another Hulk Hogan show and his buddy Haye climbing through the ropes at the other side of the ring with another decapitation t-shirt on.

Horse wrote:

davie wrote:What's the betting Haye and Fury are racing each other to get into the ring to call out AJ as soon as he stops Martin.

Fury wanting to pull another Hulk Hogan show and his buddy Haye climbing through the ropes at the other side of the ring with another decapitation t-shirt on.

Then Fury and Haye end up arguing with each other, get into a physical altercation and that is the beginning of the big build up for their PPV fight, leaving Joshua to defend against Chisora.

davie wrote:

Then we get to see Camp Eddie give another interview, feeling sorry for himself missing out on another big fight/payday.

lefty wrote:Has Joshua actually fought any southpaws as a pro?

Rob3_142 wrote:

blanca wrote:Its embarrassing that novices like josh and martin are fighting for a so called world title. Its also convenient how ibf stripped fury then suddenly camp eddie gets one of his fighters a shot. Paper title..like he got for Quiggy. Bet he gets his missus cubic zirconia instead of diamonds! I really dont know why I keep following boxing,its more of a circus nowadays than ever

If it's such a 'Paper title', why is it so significant that a 'novice' is fighting for it? If anything, Hearn should be lauded for getting a fighter only 15 fights into his career a world title shot, and potentially pave the way for bigger and better fights with better fighters in the not so distant future!

blanca wrote:

Rob3_142 wrote:

blanca wrote:Its embarrassing that novices like josh and martin are fighting for a so called world title. Its also convenient how ibf stripped fury then suddenly camp eddie gets one of his fighters a shot. Paper title..like he got for Quiggy. Bet he gets his missus cubic zirconia instead of diamonds! I really dont know why I keep following boxing,its more of a circus nowadays than ever

If it's such a 'Paper title', why is it so significant that a 'novice' is fighting for it? If anything, Hearn should be lauded for getting a fighter only 15 fights into his career a world title shot, and potentially pave the way for bigger and better fights with better fighters in the not so distant future!

Hi eddie!
You have contradicted yourself. The title is insignificant due to it being contested by a novice and a carthorse.the only thing special about hearn getting this fight is his relationship with the ibf.in addition a world title should be the pinnacle of a career not a stepping stone to bigger and better things,not part of a learning process.watered down belts mean sod all

blanca wrote:

Rob3_142 wrote:

blanca wrote:Its embarrassing that novices like josh and martin are fighting for a so called world title. Its also convenient how ibf stripped fury then suddenly camp eddie gets one of his fighters a shot. Paper title..like he got for Quiggy. Bet he gets his missus cubic zirconia instead of diamonds! I really dont know why I keep following boxing,its more of a circus nowadays than ever

If it's such a 'Paper title', why is it so significant that a 'novice' is fighting for it? If anything, Hearn should be lauded for getting a fighter only 15 fights into his career a world title shot, and potentially pave the way for bigger and better fights with better fighters in the not so distant future!

Hi eddie!
You have contradicted yourself. The title is insignificant due to it being contested by a novice and a carthorse.the only thing special about hearn getting this fight is his relationship with the ibf.in addition a world title should be the pinnacle of a career not a stepping stone to bigger and better things,not part of a learning process.watered down belts mean sod all

Rob3_142 wrote:

blanca wrote:

Rob3_142 wrote:
If it's such a 'Paper title', why is it so significant that a 'novice' is fighting for it? If anything, Hearn should be lauded for getting a fighter only 15 fights into his career a world title shot, and potentially pave the way for bigger and better fights with better fighters in the not so distant future!

Hi eddie!
You have contradicted yourself. The title is insignificant due to it being contested by a novice and a carthorse.the only thing special about hearn getting this fight is his relationship with the ibf.in addition a world title should be the pinnacle of a career not a stepping stone to bigger and better things,not part of a learning process.watered down belts mean sod all

Yeah but now you're contradicting yourself. You're firstly unhappy with it being a watered down title, and then the fact a watered down title is being contested by two fighters not worthy of a world belt. Who's fault is it? Joshua's or the IBF's?

The IBF may well be a discreditable organisation, and I too was irritated when Fury was forced to vacate the belt, but to suggest that the IBF did this as favour to their 'pal' Hearn, is somewhat delusional. I for one am not going to concern myself with the legitimacy of this belt, as it's hardly the end point of his journey. The fighter is the key point, and him being a step in the right direction, the belt is just an added incentive.

We're all aware of the IBF's reputation as a boxing organisation, but what are you going to do? Complain about it until you're blue in the face? Are you really going to be that concerned that Joshua is fighting this fight? The IBF need to manage their own reputation, but until they do, things like this will happen.

blanca wrote:

Rob3_142 wrote:

blanca wrote: Hi eddie!
You have contradicted yourself. The title is insignificant due to it being contested by a novice and a carthorse.the only thing special about hearn getting this fight is his relationship with the ibf.in addition a world title should be the pinnacle of a career not a stepping stone to bigger and better things,not part of a learning process.watered down belts mean sod all

Yeah but now you're contradicting yourself. You're firstly unhappy with it being a watered down title, and then the fact a watered down title is being contested by two fighters not worthy of a world belt. Who's fault is it? Joshua's or the IBF's?

The IBF may well be a discreditable organisation, and I too was irritated when Fury was forced to vacate the belt, but to suggest that the IBF did this as favour to their 'pal' Hearn, is somewhat delusional. I for one am not going to concern myself with the legitimacy of this belt, as it's hardly the end point of his journey. The fighter is the key point, and him being a step in the right direction, the belt is just an added incentive.

We're all aware of the IBF's reputation as a boxing organisation, but what are you going to do? Complain about it until you're blue in the face? Are you really going to be that concerned that Joshua is fighting this fight? The IBF need to manage their own reputation, but until they do, things like this will happen.

I wasnt alleging that hearn has been dealt a favour by the ibf,he just has a special relationship with them

lillywhite14 wrote:Some miserable bastards in here at times. Love him or loathe him, he's had 15 fights. He's a novice and this is an early step up. Martin is a bit of an unknown quantity as it stands. He was dong pretty well against Glazkov though at the time of the stoppage.

Peopl called for a step up in opponent, this clearly is, and now it's here they find a reason to slag it off. We all know Fury is the champ, I have no doubt Joshua himself knows this. Ignore the IBF trinket that's attached to this and just enjoy seeing a Briish fighter taking a risk early in his career.

blanca wrote:The heavyweight scene is awful,much worse than the 80s which was derided until Tyson vame along.Can you imagine what a Tubbs or Tucker,let alone a prime Iron Mike would do to big stiff josh and charles martin? Bruno would bang em both out in the same night.