Thanks for the positive feed back on my last article ( 5 To Avoid ), based on a 3 part write up about Joshuas near future.

so…

So many fighters could fit into this catagory, so feel free to leave comments on the facebook page about who you see as a calculated risk and why. Here are just 5 guys that you may or may not agree with. In no particular order.

Part 2 will focus on fights that are not  necessarily givens, but would be more of a calculated risk. The typical 60/40 fights we typically see up and down Sky Sports and  Boxnation bills, with a few potentially 50/50 fights for bigger honors too. Competitive learning fights. Call them what you like. They are not people he should necessarily fight next but definitely in the next 12 months.

Deontay Wilder

Buuuuuuuuuuummmmmmm Squuuuuuuuaaaaaaaddddd !

This would likely be a 50/50 fight in the eyes of the media if it was made tomorrow. I say that’s fair enough to be honest!

I bought into the whole Wilder Bomb Squad shit at the beginning. It was clear from the off that he had a good right hand but was very very rough around the edges and had fought a lot of pregnant Americans to establish a perfect KO record. They were dropping like dominos. I was happy to wait for Wilder to progress slowly, take tougher fights and sharpen a few more tools in his shed, as Fury would say. Instead we got a KO over Audley Harrison and a very suspicious KO over Malik Scott on the way to landing a mandatory shot at the WBC. The famous Green Belt, the supposed biggest prize in sports, being fought for by Chris Arreola and Bermaine Stivern – Only Don King could have swindled that shit.

Anyway, the Pros and cons of this fight for Joshua.

Pros:-

•  Massive media coverage and a chance to transcend into the American lime light.
• Lovely pay day that would likely sort him out for life.
• A very winnable fight if able to avoid the right hand.
• Fulfilling a life time dream of become the World Heavy weight champion.

Cons:-

• Being a World champion that can’t be trusted to defend the world title against the best in the world on a continuous basis (Wilder is currently in this situation).
• Being branded a ‘World Champion in Learning’ – Like Deontay Wilder is !
• False sense of achievement, leading to over confidence, probably leading to Points defeat to Povetkin wh0 will probably be hovering around as mandatory wondering who has been pocketing his step aside money.

The fight is a risk in a sense that Wilder has a good right hand, that’s his equalizer, although to be fair he hasn’t lost to many rounds along the way and his jab is improving. But he isn’t unbeatable and his team haven’t shown great confidence in his ability thus far to throw him in with a top 5 opponent, despite his claims of being the No 1 in the division.

Eddie Hearn would love this fight though, If Joshua wins, he could pack out arenas up and down the country with the support of Adam Smith and a Sky sports team that could probably sell Audley Harrison 1 more time! with no undercard and make a fortune. I like to think though that Anthony is switched on and wasn’t to dominate a generation, not just win a title.

 

Alexander Ustinov

This matchup falls into the bracket of ‘Testing different styles’. I would assume that Fury is going to be around for a while yet. So before a future fight with Fury you are going to want to test yourself and take a fight were you are give away height and reach advantage. Ustinov, although not as quick and agile as Fury is a very very big man and has only been beaten by Kubrat Pulev who at this point I am considering throwing on this list too, probably wrongly so. Ustinov is 6ft7 1/2 inches and has a decent jab. 2 things that Joshua hasn’t encountered yet so far. At 39 this is a winnable fight and could be easily promoted by Eddie Hearn.  Lots of Pros to this learning fight and the only Con that I can muster is giving that it isn’t likely to be an exciting fight and would need a strong undercard to be considered PPV.

 

Joseph Parker

I stumbled across this guy by interacting with the followers on Boxing Britain’s Facebook page only a few weeks ago. I had a look at him on youtube and he still has a long way to go to be fighting for world honours. At 23 he is undefeated in 17 bouts and hungry for success. He has an awe of Chris Eubank Jnr about him, not that he has a famous Dad (At least I am not aware of his dad being famous haha let me know!) but more in the sense that people have commented and been impressed by what they have seen in the gym aswell as the ring. He is expected to prove his ability as he moves up in levels. He is now fighting out at Las Vegas, and could be a live opponent. Although I would expect Joshua to win, it would be good for him to get in with someone who is young, hungry, undefeated, highly active and unlikely to loose the fight before entering the ring. The cons are that he is unlikely to get credit for fighting this guy who is unknown by even hardcore fans and it could cost a lot of money to tempt him over. However, he is ranked number 11th in the world by Boxrec, so I would imagine that he is floating around the top 10 of a couple of organisations too. Its a fight I would like to see now, but I am happy to wait a couple of years too.

 

Kubrat Pulev

 

22 Wins – 1 Loss – 0 Draws

This is the one I will get the most stick for… Pulev almost made my avoid list(Probably should have), He has only been beaten by Klitschko. Having seen the Jennings Vs Ortiz fight and Klitschko’s defeat to Fury, I would say that this is a very high risk fight were it is hard to tell if you are catching the guy at the right or wrong time. I only put him on this list based on Klitschkos and Jennings recent fights, Klitschko was unable to KO Jennings and stuck to his boxing, as we all know Klitschko only commits to the right hand once he feels it is safe to do so, not against pulev though, he took a few shots and opened up to KO Pulev. What did he see in Pulev that made him break the mold and trade with him? However I agree that 2 guys with different results against another fighter doesn’t mean its a forgone conclusion.

Pulev was a solid amateur and can box aswell as bang. I wouldn’t throw him in with Pulev in April, but I would keep an eye on Pulevs next few fights if I was Joshuas match maker and see if he is still looking as dangerous as he did Post/during Klitschko defeat. Pro’s to this are that you would have a very good scalp, competitive rounds and easily PPV. He would be by far the most established boxer that Joshua has met in the ring so far. The cons, his experience could be to much for Joshua and if he lands a big shot at anytime then you know that he has more of a finishers instinct than Dillian Whyte did.

 

If Joshua could overcome Pulev, then he will have proven that he is ready for world honors.

 

Mike Perez 

Another Cuban Heavyweight for you. Mike Perez is a decent heavyweight who would be easy to promote in the UK. He is already known by the British public after easily winning the Heavyweight edition of ‘Prize Fighter’ on Sky Sports in Newcastle. He also fights out of Ireland and has lived there for some time now, so he is no stranger to these shores. Perez has decent punch power, decent shot selection and is of Cuban stock. This is another fight that is risky depending on what Perez turns up on the night. Perez showed a lot of promise 1/2 years ago, I even remember people tipping him to cause Klitschko problems, such is the gap between contenders and World level these days. He hasnt had teh best 2014/15 with the recent KO by Povetkin. He also drew with the durable Carlos Takam (Another good ‘Get some rounds in the bank’ fight for AJ) and was also beaten on points by Bryant Jennings. 

There are a few more risky fights out there for AJ, or rather step up fights… Tony Thompson (Tall, Crafty, experienced, Southpaw), Carlos Takam (Durable, Small heavyweight, easy to hit), Mariusz Wach, Bryant Jennings, the list goes on…

 

Thanks for reading, the more I think about the Pulev Fight the more I think I am being stupid, but I hope you get my train of thought.

Plus I can’t be assed to delete him now so I will stick to my guns haha

Part 3 fights to take NOW! will be up on Friday, with Domestic clashes and the aim of holding the Britsh title outright in mind.

 

Adios,

 

Gaz

@boxing_britain