ANTHONY JOSHUA has insisted a change of opponent, from Wladimir Klitschko to Eric Molina, will be no problem for his IBF heavyweight title defence on December 10. “No way. I just train as if I’m going to win. I train because I enjoy it. I train because it’s what I do. If I was fighting Klitschko I would have the same ambition and that’s the win,” Anthony said.
“I don’t want to mention Klitschko too much at the minute. I just want to mention the relevant opponent. Eric Molina, he’s going to be across the room from me on December 10. He is a tough competitor. When I looked at him, I thought he was the toughest out of the few, so I thought that is a good challenge for myself. That’s the one I’ve got to focus on. I always knew I would have someone who was game. Right now we’re competing for a championship belt. Everyone is going to up their levels by 50-60 per cent. I have to put Klitscho or David Price or whoever was in the pecking order aside and focus on what is in front of me.”
“Everyone is going to train and try to reach their potential in camp. But you only find out on fight night because there’s nowhere to hide. Everything that you’ve been thinking and preparing for will be revealed on fight night.”
Joshua had looked closely at Molina’s previous world title challenger, when he lasted nine rounds with WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder, saying, “That’s why he’s here now. Great fighter. It takes massive courage to step into that ring. Deontay Wilder is known as a one-punch knockout artist. He stood up to a lot of his punches. This man is here to try to push the champions to their limits and try to take their belt off them.”
