Back in the glory days of the heavyweight division, the 1970s, heavyweight kings Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier and George Foreman were, quite literally, world champions. Fighting in exotic faraway places such as Jamaica, Zaire, Kuala Lumpur and The Philippines, these giants boosted their fame, popularity and earning power by becoming globetrotters. Now, new heavyweight star and reigning IBF champion Anthony Joshua wants to emulate these greats, his number-one hero Ali especially.
Promoter Eddie Hearn also likes the idea of having his star box all over the globe, and he told The Mirror how he has received offers for A.J to fight everywhere from Africa to Australia to China. Joshua himself especially likes the idea of fighting in either Nigeria or Ghana.
“Definitely,” Joshua said of his desire to box in Africa just as the great Ali did. “It’s been done before. It made massive news and was history. I think that would be massive. I’d like it to be in Nigeria or Ghana. Either one is good for me. It would be class, the whole history of it.”
Hearn added how he is looking at Joshua having his U.S debut early next year (and WBC ruler Deontay Wilder yesterday urged Joshua to fight him in America ASAP) but that he is also interested in conquering the global market.
“It’s not just about America, we want to do deals in every market, whether it‘s France, Japan, Germany, Australia,” Hearn said. “We’ve had approaches from Africa, UAE, China to bring him there and have fights. That’s something we’d like to do. I’d like him to fight potentially in China, certainly in America, Dubai. It would be groundbreaking.”
It was genuinely groundbreaking when Ali and Foreman fought in Zaire, Africa, with President Mobutu putting up what was at the time a quite unbelievable amount of cash ($5 million for each fighter!) – now Hearn will be looking around to see which countries/leaders will pay handsomely to have Joshua fight and give their homeland attention and publicity. Next up for Joshua, though, will likely be another fight at home, the O2 in London; but it could be a New Zealander making the long trip over for the challenge in mandatory challenger Joseph Parker.
Assuming he passes that test, Joshua could then be packing his passport for a big fight in America and then, who knows where. In regards to who Joshua could fight if he boxes in China, unbeaten giant Zhang Zhilei, who Joshua out-pointed at London 2012, could be a future foe. The colossal southpaw has somewhat quietly been compiling a 10-0(10) pro record, and while his opposition has been far from great, he is certainly a marketable fighter. Maybe, in another 18 to 24 months, Zhilei will be facing a partially unified heavyweight champion in a huge event of a fight in China.