FROM JEER TO ETERNITY
AJ shrugs off the fans’ boos and says: I’ve still got my belts... and I’m going to make myself an all-time great in 2018
ANTHONY JOSHUA would have expected any boos at the end of his title fight to be of the alcoholic, rather than vocal, variety.
Instead, the fans vented their frustration at referee Phil Edwards’ premature decision to end his battle with Carlos Takam in the 10th round. Punters turn up in their tens of thousands to see Joshua knock out opponents. It is what they are used to and they are disappointed when it does not happen – a reminder to Joshua of the huge weight of expectation he carries on his shoulders. Typically, the laid-back 28-year-old took the jeers on the chin. “I understand it,” said the undefeated WBA and IBF king after his 20th straight stoppage. “If I was in the crowd, I’d do the same. I get the frustration but it’s just one blip. “We got the win, we kept the belts. That pot is bubbling over there waiting for what’s next and now we can go to it after getting over this hurdle.”
Joshua admits he feels the pressure of maintaining his high-wire act, knowing one slip could cost him unification fights with WBC king Deontay Wilder and WBO champ Joseph Parker.
The plan remains three fights in 2018 once Joshua’s nose has healed. He initially thought it was broken but last night revealed it was just cut and bruised.
Parker would be up first in March or April and then possibly Wilder next October.
“Everyone was focusing on 2018 and I was like ‘s**t, I’ve got to win this fight first’,” said Joshua. “I had this geezer in front of me who could shatter my dreams. There’s a lot of expectation on me.
“I’ll fight whoever next, whether it’s Parker or Wilder. I just want all the belts.”
Promoter Eddie Hearn wants Dillian Whyte to face Wilder following his unanimous points win over Robert Helenius and is prepared to up his £3million offer for him to come to London’s O2 on February 3. Hearn feels he needs to promote Wilder in the UK against Whyte to beef up a subsequent showdown with Joshua. “Wilder knows the offer,” said the Matchroom MD. “There may be a bit more juice in it, so we will see.” While some fans were unhappy, Lennox Lewis, the last undisputed world heavyweight champion, felt Joshua will benefit enormously from his scrap with the Cameroon-born Takam. “This was just the type of fight, experience and adversity that Anthony Joshua needed,” he tweeted.
Lewis is right – Joshua learned more against Takam than he did in all of his other fights put together, apart from Whyte in December 2015 and Wladimir Klitschko at Wembley earlier this year.
He learned how to deal with a change of opponent with a different style just 12 days before a fight.
He learned how to fight with blood pouring from his nose when Takam butted him in the second round.
He learned how to be patient and not take risks after Takam survived being floored with a left hook to give new meaning to the word durable.
“There were times in the fight when he was hurt and I thought ‘I’m going to pounce on this guy now,’ but then I thought about how I made that very mistake in round five of the fight against Klitschko and I didn’t make it again,” said Joshua (left).
“That’s why Lennox says I needed a fight like that because, even though it wasn’t a bangbang-bang four-round job, it was a thinking-man’s fight.”
And Joshua has much to think about as he looks forward to an even bigger and better 2018.