Lennox: AJ’s like a young
MIKE TYSON may not always have been the most articulate in his heyday but once eloquently said: “The tempt for greatness is the biggest drug in the world.”
Anthony Joshua is its latest addict. The quest is whether such an addiction has come too soon in the nascent career of the Olympic champion?
It is the great unknown as he prepares to fight in front of 90,000 fans at Wembley. Joshua, 27, has had less than two hours of professional boxing from 18 bouts. In contrast, his opponent has spent a similar amount of time in the ring in the last four of his 68 fights.
Tyson’s career effectively ended at the hands of the last undisputed heavyweight champion, Lennox Lewis, who will be among the throng inside Wembley, with everyone from footballers to fashionistas, politicians to the proletariat, battling for the biggest ticket in town.
Lewis sees similarities between the hype over Joshua and what ‘Iron Mike’ encountered. “It reminds me of the early Tyson phenomenon,” Lewis told Standard Sport 48 hours before the most talked-about bout of the year.
“He knocked out everyone but, like with AJ, many of those were bums. Suddenly the shift has gone up and Joshua’s facing a guy with more style, skill and substance probably than all the others combined.”
If Joshua is perturbed by the sudden rise in class, then he has an acting prow- ess that paves the way for the silver screen when he hangs up his gloves.
Throughout his daily fight diaries in this newspaper, he has been the model of relaxation, adamant he does not feel the magnitude of the occasion, able to sleep at a moment’s notice despite the building tension and pervading the belief that he is Britain’s next Lewis.
For his fellow countryman, though, there is a certain reticence. Lewis is part of the majority who believe a short fight will suit Joshua — after all, he has fought just twice into the seventh round in his career — while the experienced Klitschko has gone the distance nine times.
“I’d always go with experience and this fight is no different,” said Lewis. “Everyone says that Joshua is young, hungry and a champion in the making and they’re right. He can win but Wladimir has been in this situation times, plus he has more to prove.”
Lewis’s own professional career ended 14 years ago with a victory over Klitschko’s brother, Vitali. Having lost and then wrested back his title from Hasim Rahman, he is in tune to the Klitschko mentality.
“He held his world title for nearly 12