AS vocal as Dillian Whyte has been in calling out Anthony Joshua, the Olympic gold medallist promises to keep his focus on tonightโs opponent, Gary Cornish, even though the Highlander is a hefty underdog.
โThe fight business is a tough business, I give him credit. Thatโs all Iโve got to worry about right now. What will be will be,โ Joshua said. โ[Cornish] throws good jabs, he moves well for a big guy. One thing Iโve learned is, I canโt tell you everything about Cornish because itโs so different when youโre the man in there on the night.
โHeโs very fit, moves a lot and heโs got a very good double jab and he throws a hook right hand.
โThey know if they beat me, because Iโve built this little hype train, I get derailed and they jump on so I think it gives them that bit more ambition.โ
The joiner from Scotland should be well motivated for this. His team vehemently complained about the lack of coverage Gary had received. โNone of this stuff is given to you, itโs all earned,โ Joshua responded. โYou want to be famous, go and contact people. You want interviews, go and contact papers, get a PR team. Theyโre not always knocking on your door.
โPeople have got to go searching, hand in CVs, work for work and thatโs exactly what I do. Itโs not easy. I graft in and out of the gym, 24/7. Itโs just building a little momentum. Itโs not to say people get favoured, itโs just to say I feel people should be more humble if they want that type of attention, go out and get it.โ
There are great expectations on Joshua, and he has been delivering with exciting knockouts in all 13 of his pro fights so far. โItโs coming naturally,” he said. “I can break them down from first to third round, even if my sparring partners are doing four rounds a piece, four rounds each, every sparring partner that gets in by the third and four round starts showing signs of weakness and itโs sparring so youโre not hitting them with 10 ounce gloves, youโre not trying to kill them. But you can start seeing the wear and tear. So when I get in there I try and gauge it the same way as Iโve been practising for the eight weeks, first round, second round, third round and if they stand up then it will go [on], but if they donโt I can gauge that theyโll be getting beaten up by the third round, if I donโt make any silly mistakes.โ
In his most recent performance, Joshua shone in rapidly taking apart former world contender Kevin Johnson. โThat was calculated,โ Anthony maintains, โit wasnโt aggressive. More calculated. I knew he had a very good jab, this flicking jab. So I came out boxing behind the jab and I could see he was lazy where he placed it so thatโs when I countered it with the right and then from there I kind of just followed up and that was it. I didnโt really come out, swinging hooks, throwing. I just came out, boxed and when I got him, I kind of built on that success after I landed a few combinations.โ
If he can get through these domestic challenges by the end of this year, he will then be able to move on to higher level competition. โ2016, thatโs the year. Itโs time to stop messing around,โ he said. โIf itโs the right fight, 2016 weโll definitely go for it.โ
He thinks towards the end of next year he could potentially be fighting for a world title. โBut Iโll definitely be going for like the Erkan Tepers [the European champion], Arreolas, Bryant Jennings, these type of fighters.โ
Tyson Fury has already put Joshua on his shortlist of desired future fights. โI just think he wants to sell out Wembley,โ Anthony laughed. โThe title comes with being a good fighter. I see improvements, Iโm getting smarter as I get older.
โIโm getting to the stage where Iโm developing, the different jabs, the solid jabs, the flicking jabs, jab to the body, Iโm developing for sure. I feel like Iโm getting smarter in the ring. Itโs coming together finally.โ
He respects the reigning heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko even though the Ukrainian is the man he ultimately wants to dethrone. โKlitschkoโs elite. Heโs gone through the hard times in his career and heโs learned his trade. I think heโs gone through the whole maturing stage, development as a fighter, as a person, like the Shannon Briggses of this world, he deals with them, just brushes it off with ease. Heโs a boss. Klitschkoโs a boss. Heโs the kingpin of boxing.โ
โI donโt want to be like Klitschko, though I do some of the stuff he does. I feel Iโll be a bit more fun,โ Joshua continued. โI definitely like his style. You can definitely take little bits from Klitschko.
โIf you dethrone someone like Klitschko, then youโre regarded as the real deal.โ
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