Anthony Joshua is one of the biggest draws in boxing.
His fights sell out venues. He has global appeal, good looks and the physique and stature to command attention and sponsors such as Under Armour and Hugo Boss. That’s a package many would kill for.
But in the ring, none of that matters. In there it’s about skill, talent, heart and desire.
For Anthony Joshua, those qualities are mostly there but not as much as his promoter, Eddie Hearn would hope. That’s why the latter has avoided putting him in the ring with the elites of the division, Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury.
Hearn knows what those of us with keen eyes recognize.
As good as AJ is, he’s not the best heavyweight.
On Saturday, we witnessed that fact once again.
I’m not slighting Anthony Joshua. He deserves credit for what he’s accomplished.
Before Saturday he was an impressive 24-1. He won his first 22 fights before losing his WBA, IBF, WBO, and IBO World Heavyweight title belts to Andy Ruiz Jr. in June of 2019 by TKO. Six months later, Joshua got his revenge and reclaimed his titles in a unanimous decision victory over Ruiz.
But suffering a second loss, this time to Oleksandr Usyk, pauses his chances of an immediate shot at the winner of Wilder vs. Fury.
Pauses, but not stops.
AJ losing in fights he should dominate is the scenario Hearn has feared since he first snatched Joshua away from Showtime in 2018 and signed an eight-year, $1 billion deal with DAZN. Their partnership grew even larger last week when they announced that Joshua signed a career-long promotional deal with Hearn’s Matchbook Sport, the company Joshua’s been with since he first turned pro in 2013.
Since their pairing, financial security has never been an issue.
Joshua consistently packs venues, “regularly drawing crowds in excess of 60,000 in the United Kingdom,” according to Kevin Iole of Yahoo! Sports.
He sold out Webley Stadium in April of 2017 when he fought and bested Wladimir Klitschko in the 11th round by TKO. Joshua put Klitschko on the canvas three times in their fight, including twice in the deciding 11th round. But Joshua was also knocked down in the 6th round and looked alarmingly winded as the fight progressed into the championship rounds.
Their fight was relatively close on the scorecards, one judge actually putting Klitschko in front before he was knocked out. In the aftermath, they generated slightly over 1.5 million PPV buys in the UK alone.
But that fight, especially the sixth round, exposed Joshua’s chin and stamina.
Hearn, the smart man that he is, recognized that too. This is why he’s been so calculating in arranging fights for Joshua.
This cautiousness explains his reluctance to put AJ in the ring against Deontay Wilder despite the big money and demand for the matchup.
According to Wilder’s co-manager Shelley Finkel, Joshua’s camp said they wanted $50 million and Wilder would get $15 million for the fight. Team Wilder sent them the contract but Joshua’s team balked.
“They said give us $50 million and we’ll take it the next day,” said Finkel. “He didn’t take it. They made us an offer, they want us to fight in the U.K., they want a rematch clause, we said OK to all of it. It will be very hard for him to face the public and not take the fight.”
That fight never materialized and Wilder moved on to fight Fury twice, their trilogy happening this October.
The Politics and Money of Boxing
To be fair, Joshua has fought good competition.
He beat tough contenders like Dillian Whyte and Alexander Povetkin. He also fought the same challengers Wilder faced like Dominic Breazeale and Eric Molina, both of whom Wilder beat by KO and Joshua by TKO.
And he was supposed to face Jarrell Miller in New York in June of 2019, but Miller failed a drug test (for the third time). That’s when Ruiz filled the vacant challenger spot and shocked the world by destroying Joshua, particularly with a clean and vicious headshot in the third round.
Anthony Joshua has gone 12-rounds only three times in his career. He won two of them before his loss this weekend to Usyk.
But going the distance is one of his glaring weaknesses and it returned to haunt him on Saturday.
Hearn recognizes the types of fights and fighters Anthony Joshua has difficulty with. That’s why he won’t put him in with someone like Luis Ortiz. Ortiz is similar to Ruiz in that they’re short and stockier than Joshua and pack serious power.
If Ruiz gave Joshua problems, imagine what Ortiz would do once he connected with his sledgehammer like right hook.
Yet I’m no fool.
Boxing is about money and politics. I’m well aware of that.
A rematch between Joshua and Usyk, which seems fairly likely, would be good for both fighters. If Usyk wins again, he has a claim to fight the winner of the Wilder vs. Fury match. If Joshua wins, he can make the same claim.
Even if Fury wins and Dillian Whyte puts in his claim to challenge Fury, fights between Wilder, Fury, and Joshua are what everyone wants to see.
Hearn has taken a debatable, yet highly effective, approach to plotting Anthony Joshua’s path to glory.
And despite two losses, we all know that the money resides in having Joshua in the ring with Wilder or Fury.
Joshua’s loss to Usyk is a setback but with the politics and money of boxing, it’s not impossible to overcome.
If he reclaims his belts, money will talk and a clash to fully unify the heavyweight division will be the next discussion on the table.
And, ironically, if he loses again, the biggest payday for all still resides with Joshua, Wilder and Fury.
So while Anthony Joshua has been exposed, his chances of getting in the ring with Wilder or Fury for a big payday remain strong.
Welcome to boxing.
