PATRIOT GAMES
I get pros at amateur Olympics, but it’s not for me. I won’t take chance away from my Brit pals
ANTHONY JOSHUA admits he can understand why the rules have been changed to allow professional boxers to fight at the Olympics.
But the London 2012 superheavyweight gold medalist turned IBF heavyweight champion of the world (above, right) is adamant he will never fight at another Games.
Amateur boxing’s governing body, AIBA, voted through the change a fortnight ago. And while the majority of those involved in professional boxing were outraged by the prospect of pros and amateurs competing against each other, Joshua is one of the few who can see both sides of the argument.
He said: “There are guys in the GB squad now preparing for 2020 in Tokyo and I don’t want to take that opportunity away from them.
“So I wouldn’t do it because of the relationship I have with them. But I can understand why the AIBA want to do it, because they’re getting amateurs to an elite level and then they’re going professional.
“I just think there are so many rules and regulations that it would be difficult. If pros had been allowed back in 2012, it would have prevented me winning the gold. I wasn’t seasoned at all, I just had strength and a bit of fitness. So a seasoned pro would have beaten me and it would have prevented me doing it, so that’s why I wouldn’t go.”
Some went so far as to say the change would kill amateur boxing.
But Joshua added: “It wouldn’t kill amateur boxing, people would be interested because some kid from Russia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, who no one knows, is fighting Wladimir Klitschko and then all the Klitschko fans worldwide would be drawn to the amateurs.
“So it would be good for the attention. But then with all the experience Klitschko has, him fighting someone from Uzbekistan who nobody knows would be very dangerous for the opponent.
“I look at it from all angles but I wouldn’t go.”
Joshua will make a first defence of his title against Dominic Breazeale at London’s O2 Arena on Saturday, his first fight since the death of Muhammad Ali.
He added: “Everyone talks about eras and just as I was coming into boxing it was Mike Tyson’s era.
“But the more I got into it the more I saw the impact Ali had on people.
“In different aspects of life as well – political, what he stood for, why he boxed, how talented he was, how he changed the face of boxing from heavyweights plodding around to dancing around. He just showed a different dynamic of boxing.
“In my last fight with Charles Martin, I came in wearing a white gown and that was a dedication to Ali. I didn’t meet him, but I connected with him in a different way. That was my way.
“I’ll wear the gown again against Breazeale, but I don’t want to jump on the bandwagon and dedicate it to Ali – I did it before he passed away, so I paid my tribute already.”