New heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua wants to fight one day in his ancestral homeland of Nigeria.
Boxing is hitting the road and Anthony Joshua is among those who has his bags packed and is ready for what he hopes will be a heavyweight title defense in Nigeria one day.
Joshua’s dream of fighting in his ancestral home were revived Saturday when he reclaimed his belts in a redemptive rematch victory over Andy Ruiz Jr. in Saudi Arabia.
“Africa’s rooting for me for sure, so I would definitely love to fight out there,” Joshua told The Telegraph after he arrived in London to a warm U.K. homecoming Monday.
Joshua’s immediate itinerary appears to include at least one home date. The first defense of his reclaimed belts, a mandatory against Bulgarian Kubrat Pulev or Russian Oleksandr Usyk, is expected to be in London, possibly at the new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in April or May.
Then the road beckons.
Joshua, an Olympic gold medalist at the 2012 London Games, grew up admiring Muhammad Ali, who was a world champion in every way. Ali traveled, defending his title all over the globe, including a memorable victory in Zaire over George Foreman in 1974.
Joshua visited Nigeria earlier this year. While there, he thought about Ali-Foreman, the legendary “Rumble In The Jungle”. It was then that he decided he wanted to fight where his mother was born.
“People had been telling me I should go back for ages,’’ said Joshua, who was born in the U.K. and then spent a few years as a student at a Nigerian boarding school. “It was crazy because they don’t have 24-hour electricity, but they still know me and support me.
“I went to the ghettos of the ghettos where it’s not all about egos and beef, it’s about people who are hungry to survive. It was one of the best things I’ve done. ‘’
Will the rematch between Andy Ruiz Jr. and Anthony Joshua join the most-memorable sequels in history? That’s no easy task.
The rematch between Andy Ruiz Jr. and Anthony Joshua on Saturday is as compelling as it gets because of their first fight.
Ruiz, a replacement opponent known as much for his paunch as his ability, pulled off one of the great upsets by putting Joshua down four times and stopping him in Round 7 on June 1 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Can Ruiz do it again in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia, the site of the rematch? Or will Joshua have made the necessary adjustments and avenge his career-changing setback?
Of course, we can only imagine whether Ruiz-Joshua II will live up to the original. Some sequels are as good or better than the first fight, some fall short.
Here are 10 heavyweight rematches – or third fights – that remain in our consciousness for reasons unique to each of the fights.
Deontay Wilder deserves credit for what he has accomplished even if you’re critical of his boxing skills.
GOOD
One tweet seemed to represent the anti-Deontay Wilder sect after the heavyweight titleholder’s chilling one-punch knockout of Luis Ortiz on Saturday night in Las Vegas: “Wilder is still pure (excrement).”
What does Wilder have to do to cease being excrement?
The Tweeter obviously was referring to Wilder’s perceived lack of elite boxing ability. What about results? Wilder has had 43 heavyweight fights. He has ended 41 of them early, including Bermane Stiverne in their rematch. The only opponent he hasn’t knocked out is Tyson Fury, with whom he drew last December.
Isn’t the objective to win? The man is unbeaten and has successfully defended his title 10 times, which ties Muhammad Ali at No. 5 on the all-time list in a single heavyweight reign. He also moved into No. 7 for total defenses.
And isn’t a second goal to entertain the spectators? The fans love spectacular knockouts and Wilder delivers … again and again and again.
Wilder will never be a great technician. He admits it. If that is something you require to enjoy boxing, then Wilder isn’t for you. If you admire a fighter who wins consistently and provides one thrill after another, enjoy Wilder while you can. He’s 34.
And for the record: He certainly is a good enough boxer. He has the ability to set up his big shots, to position himself at the right distance, to recognize an opportunity and to unload at just the right time. That takes skill.
Wilder said at the post-fight news conference: “I deserve respect.” Yes, he does.
BAD
Deontay Wilder’s knockouts should be celebrated on a grander scale than they are now. Ryan Hafey / Premier Boxing Champions
The reported attendance at the Wilder-Ortiz card was 10,000-plus. The capacity at the MGM Grand Garden Arena is around 17,000. And if I had to guess the number of domestic pay-per-view buys it will have generated, I’d say around 350,000.
Those aren’t impressive numbers, which is not a good commentary on Wilder’s popularity.
What’s going on? One theory is that this isn’t a good time of year, with the holidays around the corner, to stage a major fight. That makes sense. Competition from the NFL, college football and the NBA doesn’t help, obviously.
Frankly, fighters aren’t promoted like they used to be. And, who knows, maybe he’d resonate with more sports fans if he fought more often. That just isn’t how it’s done these days.
What’s the point? All of the above is a shame given the excitement Wilder generates. His knockouts should be celebrated in a way that Mike Tyson’s once were because they’re every bit as dramatic.
Again, though, these are different times. Boxing, while perfectly healthy, isn’t as mainstream as it once was. Even a dominating heavyweight champion, as Wilder is becoming, can largely fly under the radar in today’s environment.
Perhaps Wilder will gain more and more traction across a larger landscape with every opponent he puts to sleep going forward. In the meantime, those who are paying attention now are having a blast.
WORSE
Brandon Figueroa (left) said Julio Ceja’s extra weight was a factor in their fight. Ryan Hafey / Premier Boxing Champions
The word knowledgeable people use is “unprofessional.”
Luis Nery came in a pound overweight for his scheduled fight against Emmanuel Rodriguez on the Wilder-Ortiz undercard. He was given time to lose the pound but reportedly refused to make an attempt. He subsequently offered Rodriguez money and a rehydration limit but Rodriguez decided that danger exceeded reward and the fight was canceled.
Nery also has failed to make weight in the past. Suggestion: Move up a division.
Julio Ceja failed to make the junior featherweight limit by a whopping 4½ pounds, which technically made him a junior lightweight, for his fight with Brandon Figueroa. Still, Figueroa agreed to go ahead with the fight.
Perhaps that was a mistake. Ceja was an immovable object in the fight, which ended in a controversial draw. Afterward, Figueroa said Ceja’s extra weight was a factor.
“I basically fought a person in a weight class above mine tonight,” Figueroa said. “I’m pretty sure if he weighed 122, it wouldn’t even be a close fight. We have to run the rematch back but he better make the weight.”
Fighters have always pushed the limit on weight, believing they’ll have an edge over their opponents the lower they go. That’s not going to change. Fighters will continue to miss weight.
That said, it might be good idea to follow this plan: One, make weight. Two, in the event that doesn’t happen, try to make the limit within the extra time allotted. And, three, if that doesn’t work, make a reasonable offer when negotiating to step into the ring overweight.
Deontay Wilder pulled even with Muhammad Ali at No. 5 on the list of successful defenses in a single title reign.
Deontay Wilder is climbing the list of heavyweight titleholders with the most successful defenses.
His one-punch knockout of Luis Ortiz on Saturday was the 10th successful defense of his title, which equals Muhammad Ali for No. 5 on the all-time list in a single reign.
Joe Louis, with 25 (or 26 if you accept a ruling by the New York State Athletic Commission), tops the list.
Here is the Top 10 (number of successful defenses in a single reign):
1. Joe Louis – 25*
2. Larry Holmes – 19
3. Wladimir Klitschko – 18
4. Tommy Burns – 11
5T. Muhammad Ali – 10
Deontay Wilder – 10
7T. Joe Frazier – 9
Lennox Lewis – 9
Vitali Klitschko – 9
10. Jack Johnson – 8
Joe Louis’ records for number of successful title defenses seem safe. U.S. Army via AP
Wilder, who has had only one reign as titleholder, also moved up a notch on the list of total successful defenses. Here’s that Top 10:
1. Joe Louis – 25*
2. Wladimir Klitschko – 23
3. Muhammad Ali – 19
4. Larry Holmes – 19
5T. Lennox Lewis – 13
Vitali Klitschko – 13
7. Deontay Wilder – 10
8T. Mike Tyson – 9
Joe Frazier – 9
10. Evander Holyfield – 7
*- A 26th fight during Louis’ reign, against Johnny Davis in 1944, was supposed to be one in a series of exhibitions but the New York State Athletic Commission declared that Louis’ title was at stake.
Boxing Junkie presents in this special feature its list of the 10 greatest heavyweights of the modern era.
The process of selecting the 10 greatest heavyweights of the modern era – post World War II – made one thing clear: There have been many outstanding big men over the past 75 years.
Boxing Junkie was able to whittle the list down to the desired number but it wasn’t easy. The criteria we used wasn’t complicated: Our decisions were based on the accomplishments of the fighters, with some consideration of their impact on the sport.
We decided not to include active fighters such as Deontay Wilder, Tyson Fury and Andy Ruiz Jr. We thought it made sense to let the current crop of heavyweights sort things out before considering them.
Wilder faces Luis Ortiz in a rematch on Saturday. Ruiz does the same with Anthony Joshua on Dec. 7.
So here is our list, with the “next five” listed after No. 10.
