‘THIS RUSSIAN’S A REAL BEAR, AJ’
Tom Hopkinson
ANTHONY JOSHUA says Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder are piggy-backing on his status as THE name in heavyweight boxing.
Fury and Wilder can’t wait to throw barbs at Joshua whenever they speak in public.
And with the two motormouths expected to meet in the USA on December 1, when Wilder will defend his WBC World heavyweight belt against the former world champion, Joshua’s ears will be burning for the next 11 weeks… and then some.
The hope is that the winner of Fury-wilder will then get it on with the WBA, IBF, WBO and IBO champion in 2019.
Joshua said: “They do piggyback on my status a bit.
“You’ve got to though, haven’t you? You have to mention other people’s names to tag along.
Fury
“Fury always does it, jumps on Twitter when there’s a lot of hype around my fights.
“He says, ‘You’re a p **** ’, it’s good publicity.
“Always around when I’m fighting, he will call me out or mention my name.
“They have done well for themselves, but I’m the name in the division.
“They are going to wait for my failure. It is what it is. They will be waiting a long time.”
First up for Joshua is a mandatory defence of his WBA Super belt against Alexander Povetkin at Wembley on Saturday.
The Russian has twice failed drugs tests, although he insists he was innocent of wrongdoing RUSSIAN slugger Alexander Povetkin can spring a surprise at Wembley, Anthony Joshua has been warned.
Joshua puts his WBA Super, IBF, IBO and WBO heavyweight belts on the line against the 39-year-old, who has an impressive CV.
In his six previous world- both times – but Joshua has no fears there will be foul play this time. He said: “Whatever testing regime he was on before, we’ve probably gone that bit extra.
“I’ve been drug tested maybe 12 times in this camp – one a week.
“Since the Olympics I’ve been drug-tested non-stop. I get to know the testers well – cups of tea, they know my routine.
“I’ve been to the toilet every which way in front of them, I’ve done it all, mate, there are no secrets,” he added, laughing.
Bully
Back on the serious business with Povetkin, Joshua said: “I have to take him off his game, bully him a bit, and bam, hit him.
“Wladimir Klitschko put in a phenomenal fight against him – staying behind the jab all night. Difficult to do, but very smart.
“I’ll approach it differently to that.
“I want to go in there and relax and outclass him, out-think him, out-smart him – hopefully it pays off.” title fights, Povetkin has only lost once, to Wladimir Klitschko. And unbeaten London fighter Daniel Dubois, 21, got to see just how good he is during a recent 10-day training camp in Russia.
Knockout specialist Dubois (right) sparred “around 30 rounds” with Povetkin.
Dubois said: “He’s a different sort of heavyweight.
“He’s quite short and quick and he catches you unawares. He leaps in when you don’t expect him.
“He’s got fast feet and hands. All of a sudden, he’s all over you.
“I’m sure he can punch too, but I didn’t hang around to feel a full whack! I was moving.
“I’m sure AJ will adapt to his style and he has to be the favourite, but over 12 rounds anything can happen. “If he catches Joshua, he can put him down.” Dubois knows exactly what it takes to deck the four-belt champion – he did it himself during a sparring session a year or so ago. “That was at the beginning of my career,” Dubois remembered. “It was an unexpected shot, he didn’t see it coming. I caught him on the temple and that was it.”
It has convinced promoter Frank Warren that Dubois “has Joshua’s number”.
Dubois, who has won all his eight pro fights by knockout, faces cagey American veteran Kevin Johnson in Leicester on Saturday, October 6.