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| A bruised but happy Anthony Joshua the day after his victory over Wladimir Klitschko to claim the IBF, WBA and IBO heavyweight world titles. Photograph: Lawrence Lustig |
• Heavyweight champion says a Fury fight ‘would bring massive attention’
• Promoter Eddie Hearn says Joshua is in the driving seat in the division
The first day of Anthony Joshua’s reign as the best heavyweight in the world did not properly see daylight until 4.30pm on a quiet Sunday afternoon in a rented mansion of some splendour in north London. After a fight of unprecedented good manners against Wladimir Klitschko, he now craves a bout against a “real villain”, and none fits the bill better for him than Tyson Fury.
What a contrast it was in leafy St John’s Wood from his workplace the night before. By the time the world champion awoke after the longest of sleeps to embrace the scale of his achievement in front of 90,000 people at Wembley Stadium, the dismantled legend he had dispatched was already back in Germany.
Anthony Joshua wants 10 more years, says Hearn after Klitschko fight
At 41, the only road left for Klitschko to travel leads back to Joshua. The Ukrainian had played his part in the most gentlemanly buildup to a fight in living memory and, having suffered the indignity of being floored three times, twice in the 11th round before being stopped on his feet in his opponent’s corner, he acknowledges all the negotiating chips now are with Joshua, 14 years his junior.
The IBF (and new WBA and IBO) champion knows it too, although his humble demeanour remained rock-solidly in place as he spoke about what almost certainly will be the most golden years of an already gilded existence. At 27, he is indisputably his sport’s most bankable attraction and moves alongside Andy Murray as Britain’s brightest sporting star. They will go toe-to-toe for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award, and the Wimbledon champion, a huge boxing fan, would have to do something spectacular to hold Joshua at bay.
“My worry was if it would live up to expectations,” he said. He agreed that it did, of course. “At the end of the fight they cheered Wladimir but, yes it would be nice to fight a real villain.”
He added: “I think that we can definitely find someone to dance with again, to bring that sort of attention again. Anyone with a belt is good, to add more to the [collection]. We could rematch Klitschko again. I think that would be good because of the type of fight we had. And I think even guys without a belt would be good. Tyson Fury obviously hasn’t got a belt.”
But he does have a reputation that would make any fight with Joshua considerably more in keeping with boxing’s tradition for craziness, before, during and, sometimes, afterwards.
As for who the champion would like to fight if all other factors were equal, Joshua is in no doubt: it would be either Fury or Dillian Whyte, whom he stopped in his most thrilling contest before the Klitschko show. Fury is definitely top of the list. “Yeah, that’s a fight that would bring massive attention from the top to the bottom.”
After the Klitschko fight Joshua was as relaxed as he had been for the weeks leading up to it. Now he wants to enjoy the fruits of his labours. He will spend time with his family and his 18-month-old son, JJ, who might have taken a peek at Saturday night’s action at his grandmother’s place.
But he has business to take care off, as well, and the fight game is a shark pool. However, as his promoter, Eddie Hearn, points out to him, he is well and truly in the driving seat now. The others come to him – including the American TV power-brokers, who, Hearn said, were ecstatic with every aspect of the evening, from 90,000 fans roaring their traditional boxing anthem, Sweet Caroline, to the drama that unfolded in the ring.
Now Hearn will talk to the IBF in earnest although he says the prospect of Joshua defending against its mandatory contender, the Bulgarian Kubrat Pulev, is slim. That, most definitely, would not be at Wembley or the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, which will become Joshua’s exclusive homes for as long as he can extend his unbeaten 19-fight run at the top of boxing’s greasiest pole.
As Hearn explained to Joshua: “You will get to the stage eventually where I will say to you: ‘How important is this belt to you?’ And you’ll go: ‘I really like that one.’ And I’ll say: ‘You’ll only get mandatory on these ones.’ The WBA is Luis Ortiz, but not yet. The IBF is more important than the IBO, for instance.”
Did Joshua really believe that Klitschko wants a rematch? He paused before answering. “I think he will want to because a fighter is the last one to know when it’s time to stop, but I think the team around him, ie his wife, and they normally wear the trousers, and his brother [Vitali], they will advise him differently.”
On the evidence of the contest, Wladimir’s nearest who care for him are probably right. The only advantage for him in a reprise is the obvious one: money, of which he has plenty but, as they say, you can always do with more.
Whether he could do with a repeat of the punishment he took in the 11th round is questionable. It was a spectacular conclusion to a fight that probably outranks all others featuring a British heavyweight at world level. And there will be many more to come.
Source: Guardian UK
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