LENNOX LEWIS, one of the best heavyweights of all-time, sees little value in IBF champion Anthony Joshua’s December 10 defence against unfancied Eric Molina.
“This Eric Molina guy who Joshua is fighting? Okay, any guy that steps in the ring is dangerous but I fail to see what he can do in this fight,” Lewis told Boxing News. “What’s the point of it? If it’s a night out for the fans, to take their friends, well, it’s going to be a short night out.”
There was talk that Joshua would take on Wladimir Klitschko after the Ukrainian’s rematch with Tyson Fury collapsed with the Englishman – under investigation from UKAD after testing positive for the performance enhancing nandrolone – suffering from depression and admitting to cocaine abuse. That bout is now in play for 2017 after the Klitschko camp failed to commit to the contest this year.
“Klitschko wants Tyson Fury back in the ring but he’s not able to so they’re trying to push Joshua at him,” Lewis said. “He doesn’t want to take a fight with Joshua, he wants his titles back. He wants the man that beat him, that’s who he was planning to fight. The fact that Joshua stepped in the picture, I think he should take that fight. He was training for a tall guy, a big heavyweight anyway and Joshua is big and strong. Maybe he’s not mentally into it, now he’s thinking about who to fight next. Who is he going to fight instead? I don’t know.
“Was it too early for Joshua? Maybe not, because Klitschko’s armour has a chink in it. He’s been beaten and he can be beaten again. If they do fight, I think Anthony Joshua has a good chance. But is it too early? That’s the question and if you ask me, it is, a little bit. But he’s definitely got the strength and the ability and the fitness.”
Lewis suffered two defeats in his career and avenged them both, reverses to Oliver McCall and Hasim Rahman emphatically reversed.
“I can 100 per cent relate to why Klitschko wants Fury,” he said. “Heavyweight boxing is at a stalemate in one sense. We want to see good fights, we want to see the best against the best but that’s not happening.”
Fury’s upset victory over Klitschko 12 months ago appeared to trigger the start of a new, exciting era, but things have not worked out that way – yet. The Englishman quickly saw the best victory of his career turn into one of the worst periods of his life. But Lewis is backing Tyson to come out the other side.
“I have sympathy for what Tyson Fury is going through,” Said Lewis. “Depression is not an easy thing to contend with. They call it the quiet killer, and people that don’t have it, don’t understand it. It’s good that he’s seeking help, and hopefully he can return to boxing and do well.”
