On April 9, Anthony Joshua (15-0-0, 15Kos) will challenge IBF heavyweight world champion Charles Martin (23-0-1, 21Kos) in his 16th professional fight. Some may feel it is too early to step up to world level considering the opposition Joshua has previously fought. However Joshua and his team believe that this opportunity is worth the risk and could potentially result in the British star becoming a fighter recognised around the world.
In his last bout Anthony Joshua brutally knocked out Dillian Whyte (16-0-1, 13Kos) in the seventh round, following a worrying spell in the second round where Whyte caught Joshua with a shot that wobbled the highly touted prospect. The way in which Joshua struggled with Whyte in the second and third rounds has led many to believe he ought to not move straight to world level, despite this he challenges Charles Martin for the IBF world title, adding to the intrigue regarding this fight.
Joshua has shown devastating knockout power with all his fights ending in stoppages, but the will he be able to land these blows to an awkward southpaw in Martin, many feel this is the telling factor as to whether Joshua can become a real threat at the top level of the heavyweight division .
Although there is a lot of hype around Joshua challenging for a world title, his opponent Charles Martin is by no means a world beater. In his last bout he was handed the title following Glaskov’s (21-1-1, 13Kos) having to pull out due to an injury, aside from this his best win is against Tom Dallas (17-5, 12Kos). In some ways Martin is just as untested as Joshua, further fuelling the hype around this heavyweight showdown. In contrast to a lot of Joshua’s opponents, aside from Whyte, Martin is coming to win; he believes that he is able to stop the hype train, despite many including the bookies leaning towards a Joshua victory.
Some may say that Joshua is too inexperienced to challenge for the heavyweight title, but in the past many fighters have won the heavyweight title at an early stage in their career. Mike Tyson and Floyd Patterson are examples of this. Tyson won the heavyweight title at only 20 years old, Patterson also became heavyweight champion at 20 years old. Both fighters went on to have good reigns as champions, something that Joshua will look to do if he is victorious against Charles Martin.
However Lennox Lewis in contrast after controversially being handed the WBC heavyweight title after Riddick Bowe binned the title, was stopped in his third defence by Oliver McCall leading to the conclusion that he became heavyweight champion too quickly. These are all examples of fighters who became champion at a young age or reasonably early in their career. This is not to say Joshua will go the same way or be as successful as any of them, simply just evidence to help predict Joshua’s potential title reign.
However all eyes will be focused on April 9th when Anthony Joshua faces Charles Martin for the IBF heavyweight champion of the world live on Sky Box Office.
– Yousuf Ali / @boxingubanter
The answer is no
Fast Eddie would not risk his cash cow if he didn’t like the odds
He has told us that this year he will step up the level for AJ and fight somone in the top 20 , well , there you are , Martin is top 20 (just)
what a result , Aj gets to fight a man ranked below him at home for the title
Let’s just all stop bitching about the price of tickets and anything else , I love it , bring it on