THE BEST FINISHER AT WEMBLEY
But Joshua must solve defensive flaws or he faces being flattened
ANTHONY JOSHUA is the best finisher seen at Wembley since Jimmy Greaves, but, like the Tottenham and England legend, the world heavyweight champion is not so hot at defending.
Not when Joshua is in the mood for a death or glory shoot- out against one of the most dangerous strikers in the world.
This is when Joshua is at his most thrilling and why a crowd — as vast and tumultuous as those who once relished watching Greavsie rout scotland — exulted in aJ’s destruction of an invading Russian.
Old enmities die hard so the faster and more decisive the execution the better, and Joshua despatched alexander Povetkin with summary brutality.
It is the high-wire uncertainty which makes it such dramatic theatre. Just as Greaves used to snaffle winning goals out of nothing, so Joshua plundered victory from the fear of impending defeat.
The choice of weapon differs. Greaves implanted the stiletto. Joshua impacts the sledgehammer. Equally deadly.
Joshua was in trouble — four rounds to two down on my scorecard and several others — when he landed a crushing right- hander in the seventh.
Povetkin reeled back, semiconscious. Joshua went for the kill. Blows of savage accuracy sent his man down. When the Russian rose, heroically, the barrage resumed and the referee and the corner- men rushed to his rescue.
Here was the spectacular finish to reassure a wavering faithful and to re-impose the will of Joshua on the ring’s marquee division.
That it should lead to a fight against Deontay Wilder to become the first undisputed world heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis — which is by no means certain — is what brings us to the tingle of doubt.
When Joshua gets hit his overriding response is to hit back in anger. as for the defence, it doesn’t just rest, it goes out of the window. and hit he certainly was by Povetkin. Hit hardest in the first round, when a left hook set Joshua’s knees a-knocking and he did well to remain upright.
That shot also bloodied and broke his nose. Yet rather than retreat and regroup he went swinging in the rain which drizzled across the north-west London evening. as a consequence he left himself wide open to several more thudding punches to the head. Not only lefts but rights.
Had it been Wilder landing the latter it is unlikely Joshua would have survived the first of them. Povetkin has power but nothing approaching the concussive force of the american who defends his WBC world title against Tyson Fury on December 1.
Joshua the street- fighter who reverts to that basic instinct is the back story to the seventh-round spectacular which thrilled the people. Not only the boxing community but the wider population who have bought into his journey of redemption — hook, cross and sinker.
a return to the technical prudence of his previous outing, against Joseph Parker, might be advisable if and when the Wilder fight ever happens. But when the going gets tough aJ, bless him, cannot help himself.
‘I wanted a proper fight this time,’ he said. ‘I love a dust-up.’
He took as much if not more pride in his fighting heart as the stupendous stoppage. ‘I showed how much I can take as well as give,’ he said. Then he added, a mite disconcertingly: ‘This fight has taken away the fear of losing I always had until now, before I fight Wilder.’
among the several factors which may push any worry in this regard to the back of our minds is the knowledge that Fury will not make himself so readily available to virtual decapitation by Wilder.
should the elusive Gypsy King confound the Bronze Bomber, a likely rematch clause would render either of them indisposed for the april 13 date which is next on Joshua’s Wembley agenda.
But for his delivering the wow factor against Povetkin, it is by no means certain that the faithful would have been so eager to return in such numbers for another lesser opponent. pon Now they will be back, even if it is for an unloved rematch with Dillian Whyte. That, too, will play into promoter Eddie Hearn’s sparse negotiating strategy with which Wilder is already unhappy.
‘ That fight will happen,’ promises Joshua. ‘It’s the biggest fight in the world. so it hass to happen.’
The fans agree, in overwhelming numbers on aJ’s own website. still it begs the question of when will it happen. The year april? 2020, with Next Wilder september? getting conveniently older all the time?
For the time being, Hearn is probably right in saying: ‘ We can get another 80,000 at Wembley whoever is in the opposite corner.’
Twice a year, Joshua is the hottest saturday night out in town. ‘ The right hand is back,’ he proclaimed.
and the thrill of seeing that weapon mow down all- comers is made the more vicarious by the defensive flaws which leave him vulnerable to what he calls: ‘That one shot which could change everything… take away the unbeaten record, all the belts, all the business deals, all the hard work, in a split second.’
Yet, praise be, that is a risk he is prepared to take so as to reward the believers. Even when he comes to Wembley wracked by a week-long influenza and leaves with the claret seeping from that busted nose as freely as it did from the cut left eye which he inflicted on Povetkin. come Those closer discomforts to bringing might down have the empire were Povetkin not approaching 40. The 11-year age disparity slowed the challenger slightly as they entered the second half of the fight. Not that any external factor should detract one iota from another Wembley night as gut-wrenchingly brilliant as the first of Joshua’s four stadium experiences thus far, against Wladimir Klitschko 18 months ago. This latest epic was all about the quality of the finish. Greavsie will be proud of him.
AS Anthony Joshua stepped away from his latest Wembley thriller, he sent out a clarion call to the rest of the world’s heavyweights. ‘I’m ready for all of you,’ he thundered after knocking out Alexander Povetkin. ‘That includes Deontay Wilder, soon as he likes. Bring on Tyson Fury. I’ll fight King Kong if he’s available. If anyone’s really ready, give Eddie Hearn a call. Come on, that’s all it takes.’ If only it were that simple. A labyrinth of negotiations stands between Joshua and the fight for which the public is frothing at Wembley on April 13. The people have spoken in AJ’s ear: Fight Wilder next. If not him, then Fury. For the fans, a Dillian Whyte rematch is barely an afterthought, though not in the calculations of promoter Hearn. He suspects that a Fury win in