Anthony Joshua boxing news and latest headlines
Anthony Joshua MBE will challenge Charles Martin for the IBF World Heavyweight title at The O2 on April 9, live on Sky Sports Box Office.
Martin travels to England to make the first defence of the title that he landed in Brooklyn in January against Vyacheslav Glazkov, and the unbeaten Californian puts the belt on the line in his first fight outside the States.
As one would expect, unbeaten British heavyweight star Anthony Joshua has a ton of options available to him, for his next fight, set for April 9th, and the coming months. It is the next step in the pro career of the 2012 Olympic gold medal winner that is of paramount importance right now though. And, in speaking with Sky Sports News HQ today, his promoter went into detail about how hard it is working out who is genuine in their calling out of “A.J” and who is not the real goods.
Unbeaten New Zealand heavyweight hopeful Joseph Parker celebrated being moved to number one by the WBO in their updated rankings by immediately calling out fellow unbeaten prospect, Brit, Anthony Joshua.
Joshua is currently ranked number two by the WBO and a fight between the two would see the winner become the mandatory to take on current champion Tyson Fury.
David Haye is set to continue his comeback on May 21st, against TBA, and the former WBA heavyweight ruler has been speaking with Sky Sports about possible fights – or specifically one fight – for the future. Haye, even his harshest critics must admit, is exciting to watch, and he says he wants to give fans the fights they want to see.
A very interesting and potentially exciting heavyweight match-up has been set, one that will contest the EBU title the unbeaten Robert Helenius has just vacated. Once-beaten Bulgarian Kubrat Pulev will meet experienced Brit Dereck Chisora at a date and venue still to be determined.
Helenius, fresh off a December win over Franz Rill – a points victory that saw him take the EBU title that had been stripped from Erkan Teper due to Teper failing a post-fight drugs test after his KO win over David Price – opted to vacate the European crown to concentrate on his world title ambitions. So, Pulev, 22-1(12) and two wins removed from his November 2014 stoppage loss to then world heavyweight king Wladimir Klitschko, will face well-travelled Brit Chisora, 25-5(17) and four wins removed from his stoppage loss to reigning heavyweight boss Tyson Fury, in what should be a an entertaining battle.
Matchroom Sport promoter Barry Hearn says British/Commonwealth heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua (15-0, 15 KOs) made 4 times the amount in his last fight against Dillian Whyte than WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder made in his last title defense against Johann Duhaupas last September.
Joshua-Whyte reportedly brought in over 400,000 pay-per-view buys on Sky Box Office for their December 12 fight at the O2 Arena in London, UK. Joshua, 26, won the fight by a 7th round knockout after Whyte suffered a shoulder injury earlier in the fight in the 2nd round.
Unbeaten heavyweight contender Joseph Parker (17-0, 15 KOs) says he hopes to face undefeated British/Commonwealth heavyweight champion Antony Joshua (15-0, 15 KOs) in the future. Parker, 23, is a little bit younger than the 26-year-old Joshua, but with perhaps a little more punching power in both hands. Joshua has been developed a bit more as a pro, and he would appear to be a little ahead of the 6’4” New Zealand heavyweight at this time.
Parker saw Joshua’s recent 7th round stoppage over the injured Dillian Whyte last December and he was impressed with what he saw from Joshua. Whyte staggered Joshua in the 2nd round before suffering an injury to left power hand and being forced to fight mainly with only one good hand the rest of the way.
Saturday’s fight card in London heralded the arrival of a new player in the world heavyweight scene – Anthony Joshua.
Joshua has hardly flown beneath the radar until this point – that’s not been possible given his heavyweight gold medal from the London 2012 Olympic games. That said, last weekend’s fight against Dillian was his first serious test in the pro ranks, and it proved a very entertaining and gripping fight.
Commonwealth heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua (15-0, 15 KOs) did what most people thought he would do tonight … continue
Anthony Joshua KO 7 Dillian Whyte
Chris Eubank Jr TKO 7 Gary O’Sullivan
Ismael Barroso TKO 5 Kevin Mitchell
Paul Malignaggi W 12 Antonio Moscatiello
Dereck Chisora TKO 3 Jacob Gospic
Tony Bellew W 12 Mateusz Masternak
Ivan Mendy W 12 Luke Campbell