AJ’S FIST FULL OF DOLLARS…
£ 100m payday for Joshua- Fury
ANTHONY JOSHUA and Tyson Fury could earn £ 100million each if their eagerly awaited fight lands in a nation with deep pockets.
Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn, who feels he is very close to a deal, wants the pair to sign up for the bout before punting it to different countries. Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi and Qatar are in the mix as well as the UK. But Hearn admitted: “It depends where it is. £ 100m is the number both will expect but
ANTHONY JOSHUA had barely stopped sweating after knocking out Kubrat Pulev when he went into a tactics meeting with Floyd Mayweather Jnr.
The WBA, IBF and WBO heavyweight king retained his titles in style with a ninth- round stoppage of the Bulgarian veteran.
But there was a special guest in attendance. Not Tyson Fury, though. He snubbed the invite.
Instead, boxing great Mayweather was in the crowd to cheer on pal Joshua as he pummelled Pulev to defeat.
The American superstar was roaring advice throughout the fight to AJ but then made his way to the champion’s dressing room at Wembley Arena for an impromptu chat.
They spent over an hour in there going through the Pulev fight and talking about their careers as well as what turned effectively into a first coaching session on how to bring down WBC champion Fury.
Joshua said: “He was like, ‘ You can go all the way but there’s room for improvement’ – which I love to hear. We turned off the camera because he wanted to give me some tips.”
Promoter Eddie Hearn was in the room, though.
“I don’t think there is a fighter that exists who doesn’t look at Mayweather in awe,” said Hearn.
“AJ is like a sponge. Any information he can draw out of people, he loves it. He saw that conversation as so valuable.
“They were talking about slipping jabs, using elbows in a clinch, it just went on and on. And Mayweather loved it too.
“AJ was just bleeding information out of him about slipping jabs. He is getting better but still has a long way to improve.”
Joshua cannot really learn from anyone much better than five- weight world champion Mayweather ahead of a potential £ 200million mega fight with Fury next year.
Few can match the brilliance of defensive genius Mayweather.
But on Saturday night Joshua showed a nice blend of his pre- Andy Ruiz Jnr aggressiveness and the clever caution that saw him get revenge against the chubby Mexican- American late last year.
The jab was impressive from AJ, then he piled in when he hurt 39- year- old Pulev in the third.
Somehow the Bulgarian veteran – who seemed to be enjoying the brutality – survived the round but Joshua did not go for broke in the fourth. He returned behind his jab while patiently waiting for another opportunity, realising it was not time. It did give Pulev a chance to land a couple of right hands that tested Joshua’s chin without really wobbling the champion.
Joshua then hurt the challenger in the ninth with a right uppercut that left him on the deck.
Yet again Pulev rose but the end was seconds away as a jab set up a sweet right hand that left him flat on his back and out for the count as Joshua racked up his 22nd stoppage win in his 24th career victory.
“I enjoyed the uppercut tonight, that was in honour of Mike Tyson,” said AJ. “Even though I’m tall and rangy, more like a Larry Holmes or Riddick Bowe sort of fighter, I haven’t heard a lot of people say big guys don’t know how to throw uppercuts anymore.
“I’ve been working on the Larry Holmes jab, the Earnie Shavers power, the Evander Holyfield parry. I take inspiration from a lot of the greats.”
And one great ringsider was impressed.
“I could hear Floyd shouting and his bling [ gold necklaces] was blinding me from certain angles,” quipped Joshua.
“It was great to have him in the house and it just shows that heavyweight boxing is back on the map.”
If heavyweight boxing is back on the map then surely all roads lead to Joshua against Fury next.
They talked about slipping jabs, using elbows...