https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvmVd3v1glg
The final press conference before the heavily hyped IBF heavyweight title clash between Charles Martin and Anthony Joshua took place today and both undefeated men appeared and sounded confident. Joshua had more to say than did a somewhat subdued Martin, but both fighters are sure they will get the win on Saturday night.
Charles Martin
My stay in the UK so far has been very good. You know, the people are very nice to me. And we’re just finishing up with the workouts and just staying sharp now, winding down, getting stronger again. And basically we’re ready to (go).
Question
Charles, when the fight came up between yourself and Anthony, what was it that made you decide to immediately, well, throw caution to the wind and go to his hometown and fight the guy that many people think is the next superstar in the heavyweight division?
Anthony Joshua (15-0) will challenge Charles Martin (23-0-1) for his IBF heavyweight title this Saturday. Tyson Fury was stripped of the title after he refused to fight the mandatory challenger Vyacheslav Glazkov due to his contractual obligation to fight Klitcshko and Charles Martin fought Glazkov for the vacant strap. Glazkov quit with a leg injury and Martin was awarded a TKO win.
Imagine if Twitter had been around when Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier were caught up in THE grudge-match series to end all grudge-match series. Back then, in the 1970s, fighters had to make do with up close and personal verbal attacks on one another when it came to attempts at shifting tickets and scoring mental points over your opponent. Ali and Frazier met in a number of staged taunting sessions, with the two all-time greats also engaging in some over the telephone exchanges. But today, fighter A can get well and truly under the skin of fighter B without even having to move out of his armchair.
Participating on an international teleconference today to further promote this Saturday night’s fight with defending IBF heavyweight champ Charles Martin, London’s Anthony Joshua predicted he will win the fight by KO inside six rounds. Joshua, 15-0(15) also said that while he is the current betting favorite, he considers himself to be the underdog and is mentally prepared and motivated as such.
Like a good number of people, reigning and undefeated WBC heavyweight king Deontay Wilder sees this Saturday night’s IBF heavyweight title fight between defending belt-holder Charles Martin and challenger Anthony Joshua as a very close, hard to call fight. Some say the fight has come too soon in the career of the 2012 Olympic gold medallist, while others say Martin is still very much the unproven article himself.
NEW YORK (March 29, 2016) – The SHOWTIME BOXING INTERNATIONAL presentation of the IBF Heavyweight World Championship between undefeated American titlist Charles Martin and fellow unbeaten British Olympic Gold Medalist Anthony Joshua will air live on SHOWTIME at 5 p.m. ET/2 p.m. PT on Saturday, April 9 from The O2 in London.
An encore presentation will air later that evening on SHOWTIME EXTREME at 8 p.m. ET/PT.
Charles Martin, the recently crowned IBF heavyweight champion, isn’t just going to defeat Anthony Joshua next month, he is going to knock him out and go on to become recognised as the best southpaw in boxing history. At least this is what a supremely confident “Prince” Charles told Sky Sports recently.
Martin – whose sole victory of note came against Vyacheslav Glazkov in a fight that ended in an unsatisfying manner when Glazkov’s knee blew before the fight could really get going – believes he is destined for greatness.
Though he has no next fight signed up as of yet, as he told Sky Sports on Saturday night in Manchester, heavyweight champion Tyson Fury is not at a loss when it comes to who he wants to fight next. Fury, again speaking with Sky Sports, says he wants to fight and defeat Wladimir Klitschko for a second time and then face and defeat Anthony Joshua. Putting it in his own colourful way, Fury says he will “bladder” both Klitschko and then Joshua.
“I am going to bladder Wlad in the next fight and then I am going to bladder Joshua in the next one,” Fury said. “It will be huge in this country for sure. If he (Joshua) wins – or whoever wins – I will fight them next. I hope Joshua wins because of the money and Martin because he is such a nice guy. One thing I do know is when the fight happens between Joshua or Martin, I’ll introduce them to big-time boxing. Once I’ve flattened them.”
Dereck Chisora, who will fight Kubrat Pulev for the vacant European heavyweight title (date and venue still TBA) is sure he and Anthony Joshua will still meet down the line in a big match-up that “will always be there.” Chisora will be one of the interested observers of the Charles Martin-Joshua IBF title fight on April 9th, and “Del Boy” gave his pre-fight prediction when speaking with Sky Sports.
“It’s always going to be there,” Chisora said of a showdown with Joshua. “When he wins (against Martin) he’s going to ask to fight me or David Haye. It’s always going to be there. It’s a fight none of us can hide away from. Every fight in the heavyweight game is a 50-50 fight. It’s all about who wants it more in that split second – that is it.