Joshua obliterates Bakhtov; Selby defeats Brunker

Joshua obliterates Bakhtov; Selby defeats Brunker

2012 Olympic heavyweight gold medalist Anthony Joshua (9-0, 9 KOs) took care of business on Saturday night in dismantling a shorter, older and far slower Denis Bakhtov (38-10, 25 KOs) in scoring a 2nd round stoppage to win the World Boxing Council International heavyweight title at the O2 Arena in London, UK. The win sets the soon to be 25-year-old Joshua up with a fight against Michael Sprott on November 22nd on the Bellew-Cleverly 2 card in Liverpool, UK.

Joshua, 6’6”, hurt the 5’11” Bakhtov with a right hand in the 2nd round. Bakhtov was against the ropes at the time and pretty much helpless with nowhere to go. Joshua then opened up with a storm of shots to the head resulting in the referee Ian John-Lewis separating the two fighters for some reason.

continue

Anthony Joshua sparring with Wladimir Klitschko to get him ready for Kubrat Pulev fight

joshua552012 super heavyweight gold medalist Anthony Joshua is in Austria sparring with IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (62-3, 52 KOs) to get him ready for his fight next month against unbeaten #1 IBF Kubrat Pulev (20-0, 11 KOs) at the O2 World Arena in Hamburg, Germany.

Joshua will be at the Klitschko camp for 10 days of sparring, which should help both fighters improve. This is great for Joshua because he gets to improve his game while at the same time seeing how far apart he is with Wladimir in terms of talent.

continue

A Tale of Two Anthony’s: Upcoming fights featuring 2012 Olympians Anthony Joshua and Ogogo

YouTube video
This Saturday at the Echo arena in Liverpool, two of the brightest stars to emerge from Team GB at the 2012 London Olympics, will be returning to the ring to continue on their transitional journeys from amateur boxing to the paid professional ranks. Heavyweight Anthony Joshua MBE and Middleweight Anthony Ogogo will both be in action on the undercard of a show headlined by Cruiserweight rivals Tony Bellew and Nathan Cleverly competing in separate bouts set up as a prelude to their eventual rematch.

Whilst both ‘Anthony’s’ have had varying degrees of success since turning pro, the British born fighters both of Nigerian descent have taken different career paths over the last two years to arrive at where they are today.

Since signing with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Sport, it would be fair to say that Anthony Joshua has had things relatively easy. His current record is now 6-0 with all six wins coming inside the first two rounds. Since his last fight (an 83-second demolition of American Matt Legg), the murmurs for a ‘step up’ in class have grown louder and more persistent.

continue

Anthony Joshua vs Matt Skelton on July 12

Anthony Joshua vs Matt Skelton on July 12

Anthony Joshua MBE expects the toughest test of his professional career on July 12 when he faces Matt Skelton at the Echo Arena in Liverpool live on Sky Sports.

Joshua has raced to 6-0 with all six wins coming inside the first two rounds and now the Olympic gold medal star steps into his first scheduled eight-round contest against the former British, European and Commonwealth champion and World title challenger.

Skelton has amassed 36 pro fights and stands just shy of 200 rounds, and while Joshua is preparing for a tough fight, he says he will not be taking silly risks to prove his chin can take a punch at the top level.

continue

Joshua KOs Legg; DeGale stops Gonzales; Mitchell beats Maduma

YouTube video
British heavyweight Anthony Joshua (6-0, 6 KO’s) took two mammoth left hooks from 38-year-old Matt Legg (7-3, 3 KO’s) before knocking him out in the 1st round with a right hand uppercut on Saturday night at Wembley Stadium in London, UK. Joshua came out looking kind of stiff over-muscled and while he was plodding forward, Legg smashed a left hook to the head of Joshua that send him reeling from the shot.

The crowd roared as if there might be an upset in the process. But Joshua fired back with a flurry of punches that got Legg to back off. But Legg was able to hit Joshua with another big left hook to the head that snapped his back. Joshua took the punch well, and he came forward to hit Legg with a right uppercut to drop him. Legg tried his best to get up from the knockdown, but the referee counted to 10 and the fight was stopped.

continue

The promise of Britain’s tomorrow’s stars

The promise of Britain’s tomorrow’s stars

Over the following three Saturdays five of Britain’s leading top prospects will be live in action up and down the country. All five, three of which gained medals at the London 2012 Olympics, have not only the talent to become world champion but could potentially go on to one day be great, legendary even.

Britain is currently a melting pot rich with young, brilliant talent but what can this recent sprout of success be credited to? Surely the funding now available to young amateur boxers plays a significant part, which has vigorously developed since Audley Harrison became the first British fighter to win an Olympic gold medal in the super-heavyweight division in the 2000 Sydney Games and, four years later in Athens, Amir Khan taking home a silver medal in the light-weight division. In the 2008 Beijing Olympics Britain had another gold medallist in James DeGale, further strengthening the position of our young amateur fighters.

continue

Anthony Joshua destroys Paul Butlin in 2nd round TKO

YouTube video
British heavyweight prospect Anthony Joshua (2-0, 2 KO’s) dispatched a badly over-matched Paul Butlin (14-20, 3 KO’s) in an impressive 2nd round stoppage on Saturday night on the undercard of the Kell Brook vs. Vyacheslav Senchenko fight card at the at the Motorpoint Arena, Sheffield, Yorkshire, United Kingdom.

Joshua jabbed and hammered the punching bag-like Butlin at will in the 1st round. At the start of the 2nd round, the 6’6″ Joshua connected with a combination to the head that sent the 37-year-old Butlin down on the canvas on his backside. He got back up to his feet but his left eye was cut badly and he staggered against the ropes. Surprisingly the referee let the fight continue. Joshua then waded in with a couple of shots before the white towel was tossed in by Butlin’s corner to have the fight stopped.

continue

Anthony Joshua makes his pro debut on October 5th in London

joshua434British heavyweight Anthony Joshua, 23, will be making his pro debut on October 5th on the Lee Selby vs. Ryan Walsh and Kevin Mitchell vs. Gary Sykes card at the O2 Arena in London, UK. Joshua, the 2012 Olympic super heavyweight gold medalist from Britain, signed with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Sport promotional company.

It was a big decision for the 6’6” Joshua to turn pro, as he had previously set his sights on capturing a second Olympic gold medal in the 2016 Olympics. However, instead of taking that big risk and possibly ending up with nothing, Joshua decided to turn pro and take the sure thing money fighting in the UK in front of what will likely be huge audiences no matter who he faces.

continue