BY TIM PARSONS
London Olympic champion, Anthony Joshua has told the press that he is focused on his tough challenge of meeting Gary Cornish at the 02 arena tomorrow in what is meant to be his toughest challenge to date. The muscular heavyweight who has blasted all his opponents so far faces his toughest challenge to date when he meets unbeaten 6ft 7 inch, Scott, Gary Cornish tomorrow.
Cornish at 18 stonnes is unbeaten in 21 fights with 12 of those win coming inside the distance, whilst Joshua has stopped all 13 of his opponents inside the distance. Cornish’s team have expressed their confidence of victory tomorrow, though the explosive Joshua remains the betting favorite for the fight. That presumption is not guaranteed to materialize especially as Cornish is a tough guy who has never lost a fight either in the amateurs or in the pros. Joshua’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, may have taken a real risk on him that could dent his record, though a stoppage victory for Joshua will be very impressive and confirm him as the true top man in Britain.
As things stand, Joshua is believed to be the best prospect in Britain and some even think he is the best British fighter right now. However, this is just perception and yet to be actually confirmed. The British press and the public too once believed powerful 6ft 8 inched David Price was the top man in Britain, with many even tipping him to be the heir to Lennox Lewis’s thrown until he suffered two emphatic stoppages in the hands of American Tony Thompson. He would later get knocked out a 3rd time by Eten Teper in the second round.
Joshua’s 100% knock out record is impressive. His most recent knock out of American Kevin Johnson in 2 rounds, was also impressive, considering the fact Johnson had not been stopped at all throughout his career. The fact Johnson had gone the distance with Vitali Klitschko made Joshua’s knock emphasized the authority of Joshua’s win. Still, Johnson was getting old and does not possess the youth and physical attributes of Gary Cornish, who is very determined to produce an upset tomorrow night. The press conference yesterday saw another unbeaten heavyweight who fights on the undercard- Dilllian Whyte- insult Joshua and call him a ”fake” probably to hype his own big scheduled fight against the Olympic champion in December. That’s a few months away and Joshua must not take this fight tomorrow for granted. It will be a real challenge for him.
If Joshua continues his knock out trail at the end of tomorrow’s fight, he will be looking very dangerous. Tyson Fury and David Price knew of Cornish throughout their respective careers so far, and none of them fought him. This is not saying Cornish would have definitely beaten them, but saying that Fury and Price must have recognized the huge risk they would have been facing in fighting him. Eddie Hearn has taken a big chance here with Joshua, and victory will mean a lot.
