ANTHONY JOSHUA, the WBA and IBF heavyweight champion, believes that WBO heavyweight champion and March 31 opponent, Joseph Parker, is better than Deontay Wilder, the WBC heavyweight champion. And thankfully a battle between two of those champions is almost upon us.
The glowing endorsement of the New Zealander, or at least the timing of it, is of little surprise considering Anthony Joshua is set to take on Parker in in 10 daysโ time, and interest in a collision with Wilder will likely go off the scale should he win.
โAll round [Parker is better than Wilder],โ Joshua enthused during a media day at his Sheffield training base. โHis left hook, right hand, swings one right to the body, he likes a left hook to the body,โ he continued, almost coming off his chair as he exhibited the shots he was describing. โI havenโt seen Wilder throw that many body shots. Wilder relies on the right hand, so I think Parker is a better all-rounder.
โWhen you talk about Parker you talk about his speed, his stamina, heโs got a good chin. There are more stats and facts than he just has a right hand [like Wilder]. Parker has an all-round game, that is what makes it a dangerous fight.โ
Despite that danger, Joshua – who looked significantly slimmer than the 18st he scaled for his October bout with Carlos Takam – insists there is no pressure.
โI donโt feel it,โ he said. โItโs pressure I put on myself isnโt it? I know that boxing doesnโt stop here. The pressure is more performance, I know I can slug out a win, we have always got that. Itโs based on performance to make your stock rise. Opinions are always good. If Parker loses, he will come again and vice-versa. The pressure is on a performance more so because if you perform then the outcome is a win. There is always going to be pressure win or lose, Iโm trying to say.โ
But Joshua also believes, perhaps with his tongue in his cheek, that Wilder, fresh off a thrilling but topsy-turvy 10-round victory over Luis Ortiz, could one day advance his current 40-0 record beyond that of the recently-retired Floyd Mayweatherโs โ which stands at 50-0.
โWhen Wilder won, I just thought heโs supposed to do that. Heโs a 10-year pro. He turned pro in 2009 after the Beijing Olympics, so after nine years as a pro, youโre supposed to beat Ortiz.
โIt was his 40th fight. I just looked it vice-versa and thought by my 40th fight, no-one should be giving me problems.
โI just thought, by my 40th fight, I should be a seasoned professional. Heโs still learning which is good. He might well go on and beat Mayweatherโs record.โ
Joshuaโs lip service of his rivals stopped, though, when it came to how either would have fared against his old opponent, Wladimir Klitschko, who the Englishman defeated after an epic Wembley encounter last year.
โI donโt think Iโd have given many a chance [of beating Klitschko that night],โ Joshua said with a smile. โRemember when I fought Klitschko he didnโt say he is in great physical condition, he said he was obsessed and his mind was in the right frame that night. I donโt think many people would have beaten him. When a man is obsessed, he is in a tough place to be.
“I donโt think many would have beaten Klitschko.โ