“...And New, IBF Heavyweight Champion of the world“, were the words that bellowed around the O2 arena as the boy from London claimed his first world championship last weekend. Anthony Joshua put in the most polished performance of his young career, which was capped off by a wonderful second round KO of former champion Charles Martin.
Not only did AJ take his record to a perfect 16 wins with no losses, he finally delivered the kind of showing that warranted him a place among the current crop of heavyweight elite. More impressively, his dominance over Martin got some of the big names talking about potential bouts with the newly crowned champion.
Former champion David Haye, 35, was on commentary for the fight, and was quick to highlight the dangers possessed by AJ amid reports of a British showdown between the two. Haye said, ‘If Joshua hits you with a clean shot, I don’t care who you are, you’re going down‘. But remained upbeat in terms of taking the belt and unbeaten record from the former Olympian.
Haye added in a post-fight interview with Sky Sports, ‘I feel like I’m the best on the planet…though he knocked out Martin, you could see the shots coming. I will be able to counter him‘.
Tyson Fury was unsurprisingly not short of throwing in a few words, labelling Joshua as ‘slow and ponderous‘, during his contest. The former champion also stated that AJ is one of only two men he’d fight after Klitschko, with the other being WBO Heavyweight Champion, Deonte Wilder. But according to promoter Eddie Hearn, a fight with Joshua could happen as early as next year.
With both fighters gunning for the opportunity to face the new golden boy of British boxing, it is Haye who seems the more likely to get to Joshua first. He expected to make light work of Swiss challenger Arnold Gjergjaj, whereas Fury is somewhat engaged in a possible war with Wladimir Klitschko in the rematch and possibly unbeaten Cuban, Lucas Ortiz in a WBA tournament.
So boxing fans, the question is, is AJ ready for a scrap with these seasoned pros? And if so who would you like to see more? Either way, we could have a couple of great nights of British boxing in prospect.
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