As has been reported previously, newly crowned IBF heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua is likely to face one of the following three opponents in his first title defence set for June 25th: Bermane Stiverne, Eric Molina or Dominic Breazeale. All three US heavyweights have strengths and weaknesses, and either fighter would make a good first title challenger for the 16-0(16) champ who has yet to be taken beyond the 7th-round.
And 26-year-old Joshua has been studying all three prospective opponents. Speaking with Sky Sports, A.J broke down the three.
“They all sound good to me,” he said. “We’ve got Stiverne who unfortunately got beat – no-one likes to lose. But he’s very tough and can take a beating. People want to see who can stand up for the 12 rounds and whether I’d get drawn into a fight. Molina, we saw him fight the current WBC champion, Wilder. He rocked him and gave him some problems but Wilder managed to get him out of there. He’s still a very, very dangerous opponent.
“Then we’ve got Breazeale who’s undefeated. He’s a great amateur like myself, Olympian like myself and he’s making his way through the pro ranks so he’s up and coming, hungry and I’m sure he wants to prove himself not as a prospect but a true contender.”
While these three fighters are the most likely candidates to get first crack at Joshua, the IBF champ did say there are “other names in the hat.” An official announcement could come later this week or some time next week. Of the three names, former WBC champ Stiverne looks the most durable, having only ever been stopped once (and this way back in 2007). Tall and physically strong, Stiverne took everything Wilder was able to land on his chin. Since the January 2015 points loss, though, Stiverne has boxed just once – getting off the floor to out-point Derric Rossy in November of last year. At age 37, it’s unclear how much Stiverne has left to offer.
If Stiverne has some ambition left, it could perhaps prove interesting seeing how Joshua copes if he is taken into the later rounds.
Molina, aside from giving Wilder a good test and wobbling him early on in the fight, is coming off that good away win over Tomasz Adamek. Molina is already training in anticipation of landing the title shot he is aching to get. At age 33, the Mexican/American might be at his peak; having improved much since his 1st-round stoppage loss to Chris Arreola in 2012.
Molina can punch, and it would be interesting to see how Joshua’s chin held up to the bombs Molina hit Wilder with.
Breazeale, already 30, is coming off an off the floor severe mouth injury of a corner retirement win over 42-year-old Amir Mansour. Breazeale does have good amateur experience (he also played football) but the Mansour win aside, he has just one other notable win, this being his debatable points verdict of a win over Fred Kassi.
At 6’7” Breazeale might be able to give Joshua some problems with his height and reach.
One man Joshua says he will not be facing on June 25th is former KO victim Dillian Whyte, who gave the future champ a great fight, and a scare, back in December. David Haye recently told Sky Sports he had heard Whyte would get a shot against Joshua next. But this is not the case.
“Whatever David Haye has heard is false information and you heard it from the horse’s mouth,” Joshua said.