‘Juggernaut Joshua didn’t drop me’ – one boxer’s claim to fame
Back in 2014, Welsh engineer Dorian Darch faced heavyweight champion of the world Anthony Joshua in just his fourth professional bout. Here, he tells Ben James his memories of that evening...
TOMORROW night Dorian Darch, after enjoying a pleasant steak dinner with his wife, will make his way over to the Principality Stadium to watch heavyweight champion of the world Anthony Joshua.
In that regard, apart from dinner arrangements, perhaps, he’s no different from any of the 70,000-odd crowd who will watch Joshua’s bout with Frenchman Carlos Takam. Except he most certainly is. Because three years ago Darch was stepping into the ring with “AJ”, rather than watching him.
In February of 2014 he faced Joshua in just his fourth professional bout at the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff.
But this time the 33-year-old will be swapping boxing gloves for a steak and perhaps a nice glass of wine – despite some rumours this week that he might be on the undercard.
“I’ve seen a lot of people saying I’m fighting!” exclaimed the Aberdare boxer. “It says on BoxRec that I’m meant to be fighting David Allen but, trust me, there’s no way that’s happening!
“I’m not sure who his opponent is, but it’s not me! I’ve got tickets so I’ll be watching this one from the stands.”
Darch has had his big night with Joshua and seems content to be just a spectator this time around.
After all, his one experience against the world’s best heavyweight is almost reminiscent, certainly before the bout, of Sylvester Stallone’s boxing classic Rocky.
In 2014 he was working as a civil engineer when the chance to face superstar-inthe-making Joshua in the ring came his way.
To his credit, Darch had won seven of his nine fights after turning professional in 2011, but the prospect of facing the 2012 Olympic super-heavyweight gold medallist was a completely new frontier.
He went from selling tickets to his mates to a shot at the next big thing in British – and world – boxing.
At the time, he said: “I’ve got my limitations and I know I’m never going to be world champion, I also know Joshua is a huge guy and he’s probably going to be too big for me.
“But you never know, I could hit him on the button and my world can change. “I won my first six fights, but I was fed up hassling my mates to buy tickets. “I could sell 130, but it’s hard as a heavyweight getting fights in Wales, so I told my manager [Steve Sims] that I was happy to go on the road, earn some money and take some risks. “To be fair, he’s come up with the Joshua fight and it’s a massive opportunity for me.” The preparation was far from ideal for Darch, with the initial fight in October 2013 being pushed back due to back injury to Joshua. preparation would be an hour at the gym after work three nights a week.
“At the time my baby’s bedtime was 8.15pm so I had to have everything done by then!”
If the difference in preparation had not been an indication of the mismatch, then the first time meeting Joshua – and all the press circus that followed him – acted as a wakeup call for the engineer.
Darch had never done any press before, let alone anything to this scale, with his previous experiences having comprised “just a quick weigh-in” with very little interest.
“This was completely different,” adds Darch.
The experience also left him questioning whether he really knew the measurements of his own physique, after seeing Joshua in the flesh for the very first time.
“I’d seen him at the Olympics but never in person,” Darch explained. “I’ve always thought of myself as being 6ft 3in, but seeing him made me realise I’m actually 6ft 2in!
“I’d also never thought of myself as fat or anything but I just couldn’t believe how a guy that big could basically weigh the same as me. There was only a pound between us!
“The other thing about him was how respectful he was. I only saw him when the press were there but he was sound.”
In the ring, however, Joshua, understandably, was a different animal.
He showed the speed and strength that have brought him to where he is today in a ruthless demolition job, resulting in a second-round stoppage.
Yet, despite that, Darch was pleased, surprised even, with how he fared against the Londoner – especially in the early exchanges.
“I actually started all right. I was making him miss, which isn’t something I normally do.
“I normally just go in there and have a bit of a scrap.
“For two and a half minutes I was making him miss and it was all OK. Then he caught me and my head was like a pinball.”
He adds that the second round started in similar vein, with Darch forcing his illustrious opponent to miss with a few more jabs.
But after just 45 seconds he knew it was over when Joshua caught him in the temple with a left.
After the fight, he mused: “I didn’t go there to lie down but he was in a different league to me, and you could tell he lives in the gym, while I organise my training around my job.
“He was too good, too big and too strong and I hope he goes on to become a world champion one day.
“It would be nice to say that you’ve been beaten by a world champion.”
And, of course, Joshua has gone on to achieve just that – meaning Darch is indeed able to tell people he was beaten by a world champion.
“I’ve got a daughter and it’s a nice thing to say to her one day that I fought the world champion and he didn’t knock me down – I’m not sure Takam will be able to say that!”
It’s that final point that Darch is most proud of; the fact that he is the only fighter to have not been dropped by Joshua as a professional taking pride of place in his Twitter bio, adding: “That’s my claim to fame! I know he would have knocked me down but the referee stopped it. Anyway, it’s still true – he didn’t drop me so I’ll carry on telling people!”