I spent much of Saturday’s big heavyweight bout wondering aloud just why I’ve been so high on Anthony Joshua.
I mean, yeah, the potential is clearly there - across the board. He looks the part of a new age heavyweight boxing superstar. He has the charisma and, seemingly, the poise to handle the pressure of being boxing’s “next big thing.” In terms of physicality, you can see that he’s fully capable of doing what it takes to be a truly self-actualized heavyweight elite - the movements are there and the reflexes are fully firing, even if the timing is still “off” most of the time.
But, still, he’s not the fighter he needs to be, yet. His thriller against Wladimir Klitscho was a bit of an illusion. Klitschko’s weaknesses fed into Joshua’s strengths and Joshua’s weaknesses never really came into play against Klitschko.
Against Carlos Takam on Saturday, Joshua looked “off.” He looked as off as he has always looked against someone who isn’t just a straight up and down fighter and/or someone not looking to lay himself as a sacrifice on the altar of the next boxing god.
If anything, Joshua looked a bit worse than his pre-Klitschko form. He was never quite “on mark” against a fighter who clearly couldn’t hurt him.
Coming in at a career high weight also doesn’t speak well to his level of preparedness and, perhaps, lends some credence to the idea that maybe all of the adulation IS getting to his head a bit.
A “next big thing” should’ve eaten up and spit out a guy like Takam, not fumble for ten rounds at putting him away until the referee decides to jump in and force the narrative-satisfying stoppage. Any way you slice it, Anthony Joshua didn’t look like an emerging superstar on Saturday. He looked like a mega-talented fringe contender fan and media rave about as a blue chip prospect.
Yet, there were 78,000 raging true believers at Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales eagerly embracing Joshua in a way few legends are even embraced. Could there be a better example of the disconnect between star power and actual ability? Hell, even cynical ol’ me can’t help but find himself drawn into the hype.
But a sober mind sees Anthony Joshua for what he is-- Talented, promising, likeable, compelling—and for what he’s not.
Quick (S)hits:
-- Bob Arum’s inability to get Manny Pacquiao to bite on a planned part 2 with Jeff Horn has forced him to embrace Plan B. Terence Crawford will now be moved into Pacquiao’s place to beat up Horn and take his WBO welterweight title. I’m imagining that the preferred plan would’ve been for Pacquiao to beat Horn twice in a manufactured trilogy rivalry before then being offered up to Crawford in a passing of the torch bout. But with Manny not playing along, Arum has to skip over the patsy, er, Pacquiao.
-- But before Crawford can beat the vegemite out of Australia’s Horn, Horn has a WBO title defense against, quite possibly, the least qualified welterweight title challenger in boxing history—Britain’s Gary Corcoran.
-- It’s funny how the WBO, which just named Crawford the no. 1 contender to Horn’s title, seems to be working to hold Arum’s plans in place and keep that title nice and secure. Corcoran ain’t beating anyone even remotely within sniffing distance of the top 10 (and that includes Horn, who’s not exactly Sugar Ray, himself). Horn-Corcoran is a safe hometown fight for Team Horn to make and put some money into everyone’s pockets. Then, Arum can swoop in with Crawford and work to take the belt. If one didn’t know better, one might think the WBO was working WITH Arum on his plans. But that can’t be…right?
-- Kubrat Pulev might have lost out on a big payday vs. Anthony Joshua, but he may be getting a minor WBA paper title as a consolation prize via bout with Fres Oquendo. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Got a question (or hate mail) for Magno’s Bulging Mail Sack? The best of the best gets included in the weekly mailbag segment right here at FightHype. Send your stuff here: paulmagno@theboxingtribune.com.