AJ’S GRAND TOUR
Joshua eyes three fights at football stadiums in 2018
THE Anthony Joshua Show will be coming to more football grounds near you next year. The phenomenal 80,000 attendance expected at Cardiff ’ s Principality Stadium for Joshua’s ho-hum world heavyweight title defence against the barely known Carlos Takam has convinced Britain’s WBA and IBF champion and his promoter Eddie Hearn that AJ will have to carry on fighting in football stadiums.
They are planning three fights in 2018 to follow this Saturday’s challenge under the retractable Cardiff roof from Takam, the Afro-French slugger.
They are not only looking at national stadiums. Other London football grounds are on the radar — Arsenal fan Joshua would love to fight at the Emirates — and Hearn reasons that if they can fill Cardiff, then why not take the road show to Old Trafford or the Etihad.
Joshua said: ‘I know there are loads of kids out there who want to see me. We love the O2 in London but if we go to an arena like that, not so many of the youngsters will have the chance to be there. You limit it at a time when there are so many people hoping to watch a world heavyweight title fight. The big stadium gives them that chance. It’s good for boxing. The demand is there.’
Even more demand for bigger fights than the one in Wales this weekend.
This is only the second outing for Joshua this year, following his 90,000- spectator extravaganza against Wladimir Klitschko at Wembley Stadium in April. Joshua describes thus the prime asset of Takam, a Cameroon-born Parisian who is five inches shorter than him- self: ‘He has a head like a cement block which means it will likely take me 10 to 12 rounds to knock him out.’ Kubrat Pulev, the Bulgarian whose withdrawal with a shoulder injury saw Takam take over as Joshua’s IBF mandatory challenger, was hardly a crowd-puller in the first place. Yet 78,000 tickets had been sold before Takam stepped in as substitute, while Sky Sports Box Office pay-per-view buys are reported to be holding steady. ‘That shows the scale of AJ’s appeal,’ says Hearn. ‘The O2 has been brilliant for us, it’s our home. But AJ is too big now for a 20,000 arena.’
Assuming Takam does not spring what would be one of the ring’s biggest upsets, Joshua is getting set for two world championship unification fights next year, plus a mandatory defence of his WBA title.
The biggest one would be against Deontay Wilder, America’s knockout holder of the WBC belt. That would also bring with it the lineal Ring magazine title, currently held by Tyson Fury but set to be declared vacant shortly because of the Gypsy King’s inactivity since he dethroned Klitschko two years ago. Joshua would not be averse to fighting Fury in another Wembley blockbuster.
He said: ‘ What was Tyson’s fighting weight? Eighteen stone? Well, if he comes back at 22 stone, or even 30 or 40 stones and can prove he has morphed into that weight and can move and beat journeymen, then people would still be very interested. It would depend on how he performs. He’d have to show he is back in the game.’
Hearn admits he would also be wary of Fury pulling out as he did twice from rematches against Klitschko, saying: ‘ We can’t have people disrupting our plans.’ That agenda includes a spring unification fight against New Zealander Joseph Parker, who retained his WBO title with a recent victory over Fury’s cousin Hughie. Although Hearn said: ‘He would have to accept getting less money then Wladimir, who deserved a 50-50 purse split. What’s Parker worth? I would say 20 per cent is about right.’ Logic would seem to point to Wilder at Wembley in the summer, although Hearn talks of jeopardising that bonanza by insisting the American first fights his No 2 heavyweight, Dillian Whyte, at the O2 on February 3. Wilder, who follows Joshua into the ring next month in a rematch against Bermane Stiverne, may not buy into that scenario. He has been saying: ‘ The biggest fight out there is me against Joshua and we should get it on next. Joshua should stop running from me and come to the US to try to make his name.’ Joshua’s third fight in 2018 should be that WBA mandatory defence, probably against Russia’s Alexander Povetkin. At 28, Joshua can be forgiven for seeming greedy. Not only to further his project of becoming sport’s first billionaire but to become the first undisputed heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis. AJ said: ‘I want all the belts. And when I get them, I won’t want to vacate any of them.’ To pull that off, he will also have to KO boxing’s labyrinthine politics. Joshua v Takam is live on Sky Sports Box Office on Saturday.