DOMINIC BREAZEALE touched down in London today to face Anthony Joshua, the man Breazeale will challenge for the IBF heavyweight title on June 25.
โHeโs the champ, youโve got to respect him. Heโs a big broad guy, very athletic like myself. I wouldnโt want it any other way. I wouldnโt want to fight some slouch. I want to fight the best of the best. Iโm fortunate to get this opportunity and Iโm going to take advantage of it,โ the American said. โHeโs good. In the 2012 Olympics he won the gold medal. Unfortunately I thought the Italian [Roberto Cammarelle] actually beat him in the championships, but it is what it is. For him to go on and win a belt after 16 professional fights, heโs come a long way, heโs progressed a lot, as has myself. Iโm 17-0, 15 KOs and here I am in my 18th fight, fighting for a world title. Anthony Joshua is a very, very big strong, statuesque, athletic guy but at the same time itโs almost like heโs looking in the mirrorโฆ Iโm one of those guys that is a dogfighter. Iโm going to come to fight every minute, every second of the round.
โItโs going to be a strategic chess match, itโs him against me, me against him. Itโs whoever lands faster and whoeverโs the quicker guy on the night.โ
Breazeale promises that he wonโt fold under pressure at the O2. โIโve boxed at the Staples Center, Iโve boxed at the MGM Grand. In the States thatโs as big as it gets for us. Itโs maybe 15, 16,000, I think you have 20,000 here. For me I’m used to playing on the gridiron in football with 50 or 60,000 fans yelling and screaming, hating you and calling you all kinds of names. To be in a big arena like that, thatโs not going to take an affect on me, itโs one of those things, another walk in the park,โ Dominic insisted. โAt the O2 Arena with 20,000 fans that are all against me, itโs going to be huge.โ
He played college football, for the University of North Colorado, at quarterback. โPressure of all pressures, thereโs no better place to be,โ he said, explaining that the switch โis easy now. โ07 was my last year of playing, weโre nine years in now. When I first started it was dreadful. Just the conditioning alone. Playing football, you do sprints or whatnot on a football field. The conditioning level that a boxer needs, to run miles, Iโm up to five miles a day on a daily basis, was night and day. So there were a lot of times I said I canโt do this but here I am nine years later getting ready to fight for an IBF titleโฆ I donโt know if thereโs any other quarterback that made the transition from the Gridiron as an elite athlete and became a title contender.โ
He started out boxing to stay in shape for football. โThen I found I was pretty good at it. Every time I hit somebody with the right hand, they went to sleep. I was winning USA national title and became an Olympian in over a year and a half, a very fast track and nine years later here I am,โ Breazeale recounts.
The American maintains heโll be tougher fight than Charles Martin. โItโs a competitive edge. Anthony knows heโs in a fight. Heโs not in situation where heโs fighting a guy like Charles Martin whoโs coming over here just to kind of lay down. I think Anthony Joshua had that fight won as soon as he did the press conference, like this one and he stood in front of a guy like Charles Martin. He stands in front of a guy, eye to eye, size, shoulders wide, whoโs not backing down from him, he knows heโs in a fight. Sometimes words have to be exchanged. Weโre both gentlemen, weโre both elite athletes. I think weโre going to handle ourselves outside of the ring as well as inside of the ring,โ Dominic said.
It may be galling for Breazeale that US network Showtime has signed a multi-fight deal with Britainโs Joshua, but he maintained that snub is additional motivation. โYouโve got to respect that heโs got the belt and I donโt. But as soon as I knock him out and take that belt, Showtimeโs going to be knocking on my door and asking me to take a deal,โ he said.
Nor is Breazeale troubled about boxing in the UK. Brandishing his fists, he concluded, โI got one referee and I got one judge. And I plan on using them June 25.โ