Joshua — I’m in the best shape I could be

ANTHONY Joshua has backed the British Boxing Board of Control’s decision to allow Dereck Chisora’s heavyweight bout against Dillian Whyte to go ahead in Manchester tomorrow night.

Chisora was fined £25,000 and handed a suspended two-year ban at an emergency Board hearing after the pair’s press conference erupted into violence on Wednesday.

The Board is understood to have given serious consideration to scrapping the contest, which is the chief support for Joshua’s IBF title defence against American Eric Molina.

Although Joshua’s relaxed demeanour is in sharp contrast to his combustible counterparts, the 27-year-old laughed off the incident and believes they are an inevitable part of modern boxing.

Joshua said: “It’s wasted energy — I’ve been there with Dillian and we just didn’t get along. I wasted a lot of energy and you saw that in the type of fight I fought.

“At the end of the day, this is fighting. Throughout the history of boxing, you have these type of incidents. It doesn’t happen at every press conference but one out of 100 it may happen.

“This is not tennis, this is a gladiatorial sport. It’s fight or flight, so you’re going to get it. You saw that with Tony Bellew and David Haye — guys are going to attack each other. It happens sometimes.”

In addition to the fine and suspended ban handed to Chisora, the Board also elected to remove the bout’s sanction as a British heavyweight title defence by Whyte.

Joshua may have good reason to exhibit a more relaxed attitude as he is widely seen to face an easy night against Molina.

But the 34-year-old Texan is clearly seen as a stepping-stone to a major showdown against Wladimir Klitschko next year, and Joshua believes another quick win will herald the start of the prime period of his career.

Joshua said: “People were asking me 18 months ago when I was going to be fighting the big names, and I said, give me 18 months, and that time is now.

“We are starting to move forward and I’m getting more experienced.

“I’m injury-free and physically in the best shape I could be, and now it’s just about getting the mind right.”

Joshua will be helped in that regard by his reunion with former amateur mentor Rob McCracken, who will undertake his first bout as the Watford fighter’s full-time trainer, re-forging a link from their days together on the GB Boxing squad.

“It’s important to have experience in my corner,” added Joshua of the former world middleweight title contender.

“Rob’s been a fighter himself so when he’s telling me to throw a combination or do an extra round, I respect his opinion, because he’s lived it.”