REACH FOR THE STARS
Sky’s the limit as Joshua is set to dazzle the world
IN his youth, Anthony Joshua pedalled around the affluent streets of other neighbourhoods on his push-bike with his friends. The boy gazed at the big houses with the gates and the driveways. He wondered what job the people did who lived there and how they had earned enough money to afford such an existence.
Joshua used those glimpses of wealth as motivation. And now, as he prepares for his heavyweight title unification fight against Joseph Parker in Cardiff next Saturday, he is just about the planet’s biggest and most marketable sports star.
The world is falling over itself in its haste to throw him the kind of money that would enable him to buy a whole suburb of mansions.
Joshua’s status now is such that everyone is so eager to map out his future conquests that they have written Parker out of the equation before the fight has happened.
The New Zealander is cast as a brief pause on the upward graph of Joshua’s all-conquering career, an inconvenience in the Englishman’s advance on unifying all the heavyweight titles in one huge collection.
Now that Floyd Mayweather appears to be too busy counting his money to fight any longer, Joshua is the biggest draw in boxing.
It was reported last week that the Ultimate Fighting Championship is considering attempting to sign him to a promotional multi-fight deal that could be worth more than £350million and make him one of the highest-earning fighters in the history of the sport.
It is hard to think of many sports stars who can match Joshua’s allure.
If Tiger Woods’ comeback gathers pace, then he would be a contender.
Lionel Messi attracts as much reverence as ever and LeBron James is still the King of the NBA — but Joshua, who is moving into his prime at the age of 28, can beat them all. The reason his name is gold is that he is restoring the kudos to the title of heavyweight champion of the world. It lost some of its mystique in the years of worthy but dull domination by Vitali and Wladimir Klitschko. However, Joshua’s power, grace and charisma have restored its attraction. As the London 2012 Olympic gold medallist forges onwards towards an anticipated showdown with WBC champion Deontay Wilder later this year, heavyweight boxing is big again. And so the world flocks to Joshua. Drive through our city centres and you see him on giant billboards wearing designer headphones. Fly on British Airways and there is Joshua, dressed in smart suit and tie, laughing on the front cover of the airline’s magazine, High Life.
There is little reason to think this will end soon. Parker is a polished fighter but there is nothing on his record to suggest that he is anything other than the most limited of the three men who hold versions of the heavyweight title.
But part of the attraction of heavyweight boxing is that Joshua will put all his fame on the line against Parker.
When he climbs through the ropes at the Principality Stadium on Saturday, the acclaim and the promises of contracts and the prospect of the fight with Wilder all count for nothing. Parker is an obstacle he has to flatten.
Parker is an experienced rival with 24 wins from 24 fights, including 16 knockouts.
Joshua knows he faces a tough opponent but he remains supremely confident. ‘He’s very talented,’ said Joshua. ‘He’s also a man of pride.
‘But my job is to break him. I want him to realise that everything they tell him when he goes back to his corner in round one is a lie.
‘They will tell him: “You can hit him with a left hook,” and that isn’t happening. Or: “You can hit him with a right hand,” and that isn’t happening. Or: “He has stamina problems,” and I’m still there. He’ll realise he’s in with a real one.’
The conversation at Joshua’s training camp in Sheffield last week moved on to possible future fights, not just against Wilder but also Tyson Fury, who is said to be moving closer to a comeback.
Joshua was encouraging the discussion because of some of the trash-talking in which the former champion has indulged.
He said: ‘Is it my destiny to fight Fury? No, his destiny is to fight me.’
For Fury, a long road stretches ahead before he can think about sharing the same ring with Joshua.
Fury is trying to climb up off the floor. Joshua is reaching for the stars.