Joshua turns Pro

Good afternoon Gents.

I don't post much as work prevents me from doing so, but this caught my attention in a window of opportunity.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/boxing/23431441

Should he have stayed amateur until 2016?

Or, is he right to take advantage of an relatively open heavyweight scene up for grabs.

What do we all think?

If they allow pro boxers into 2016 as has been discussed then theres probably no real advantage to Joshua staying amateur although Im not sure how that one is going to work out in practicality.

I dont think its a bad move to go pro in any case if it was always his ultimate ambition. He may as well get started.

Right to turn over IMO, the Olympics is the pinnacle of the amateur game (at least in the minds of the public) and so why stick around four years to try and do what you have already done. Also read something about some situation where the English Amateur board are suspended or some such so hardly a nice stable environment in the amateur game.

Also as you have alluded to the heavyweight talent pool is not exactly deep at the minute, absolute certainty both brothers will exit stage left over the next three or four years so if he starts getting going now no reason he cannot find himself well in the mix.

Rowley, absolutely. Also, who knows, he might well have the tools to beat an aging Wladimir in 2-3 years time who I think is making easy money and will probably carry on until he is 40 anyway.

People forget that Haye challenged Thompson for the IBF in his 10th or 11th pro fight!! - ( no shame in that loss how may boxers challenge for a world title after 11 fights ) and motored on to get the cruiser titles.

My point being is that Haye got his skates on, and despite a loss was champ in the cruiserweight division about 3-4 years of turning pro.

If Joshua takes well to the scene than I would expect him to be challenging in 3-4 years max ( first two years a fight at least every other month )

armchairwarrior wrote:Rowley, absolutely. Also, who knows, he might well have the tools to beat an aging Wladimir in 2-3 years time who I think is making easy money and will probably carry on until he is 40 anyway.

People forget that Haye challenged Thompson for the IBF in his 10th or 11th pro fight!! - ( no shame in that loss how may boxers challenge for a world title after 11 fights ) and motored on to get the cruiser titles.

My point being is that Haye got his skates on, and despite a loss was champ in the cruiserweight division about 3-4 years of turning pro.

If Joshua takes well to the scene than I would expect him to be challenging in 3-4 years max ( first two years a fight at least every other month )

You don't think Wlad will still be here in three years ??

Well Trussman, he has said himself ( and Manny said as well last year ) that he would go on for several years, as he is in fine shape and on a winning streak.

Here's an interesting article from April as well....

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/general/others/inside-lines-anthony-joshua-could-face-wladimir-klitschko--at-the-rio-olympic-games-8591334.html

I think he is right to turn pro. He's got his gold. No certainty of getting another in 4 years. May aswell turn now. I think in his case though, he still has alot to learn. Id like to see him being out out and about as much as hugey fury, he still has a craft to learn, so being active is now really important.

There will be a temptation to match him infrequently as a main event, which would be all wrong for him.

armchairwarrior wrote:Rowley, absolutely. Also, who knows, he might well have the tools to beat an aging Wladimir in 2-3 years time who I think is making easy money and will probably carry on until he is 40 anyway.

People forget that Haye challenged Thompson for the IBF in his 10th or 11th pro fight!! - ( no shame in that loss how may boxers challenge for a world title after 11 fights ) and motored on to get the cruiser titles.

My point being is that Haye got his skates on, and despite a loss was champ in the cruiserweight division about 3-4 years of turning pro.

If Joshua takes well to the scene than I would expect him to be challenging in 3-4 years max ( first two years a fight at least every other month )

That would be really motoring. I would prefer him to take 3 or 4 years and fight regularly, learning as he goes, rather than step up and probably not fight very often after that.

Does anyone want Wlad to be around in three years...

Boring enough as it is with the gulf in talent...

Better for them to go and have decent matchups for the title..

Can I just get in early before Winchester and say Wlad is ducking Joshua.

Thats exactly what I mean't - 3-4 years is not outrageous if a pace is kept up and barring significant injury.

Look at Hughie Fury - put aside what you think about the Fury's ( NOT a post about Fury!! ) - this lad is doing a fight once a month sometimes twice.

It all depends of course on how well Joshua adapts, but for my money I feel that Audley is unique. His problems were very specific and in the mind and I don't see why the spectre of Harrison should haunt anyone turning pro for that matter.

armchair Mate...The sad thing is he's a world contender level NOW!!!!!

before he has his first fight..

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:Does anyone want Wlad to be around in three years...

Boring enough as it is with the gulf in talent...

Better for them to go and have decent matchups for the title..

No I don't want him to be around Trussman....just have a sneaking suspicion that he will......

...but I would love to see him genuinely dethroned which is why we were all so cross with Haye hyping the thing up and then being treated to an "ordinary" boxing match.

Haye lost his bottle....Which is easy to do when someone 6-7 and 250 pounds is fighting you...

Or 5ft 8 and 300 in Rowley's case...........

Funny thing is I watched that HBO show with Wlad and Haye sitting across a table before the fight..and you could see Wlad's cool arrogance had Haye intimidated.. looking back..

Though not at the time..

Klits are too good and it's boring..because they are boring..

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:armchair Mate...The sad thing is he's a world contender level NOW!!!!!

before he has his first fight..

 .....yep...hot off the success of the Tour DE France twice...Wimbledon.....people who don't understand pro boxing ( and some who do  ) will be angry and feel cheated that Joshua boxes Mike Middletons or other doorman in his first few pro fights...and not Chisora or even Haye.

Of course all his fights will be "events" though - which is where the problem lies. Can young master Hearn control himself enough to protect Joshua for the first few fights and allow TV a greater role after say 9-10 fights...what do we all think... 

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:Haye lost his bottle....Which is easy to do when someone 6-7 and 250 pounds is fighting you...

Or 5ft 8 and 300 in Rowley's case...........

Funny thing is I watched that HBO show with Wlad and Haye sitting across a table before the fight..and you could see Wlad's cool arrogance had Haye intimidated.. looking back..

Though not at the time..

Klits are too good and it's boring..because they are boring..

I like Haye Trussman. He is a very good all round boxer. I would love him to have another crack and go all out on WK. I really hate the term "punchers chance" but in this case, Davids overall high skill level and heavy handedness would give him I think still the best chance of any current heavyweight of KO'ing Wladimir if he went for it....I would cheer him if he got stopped himself but the fight was cracking and WK was rattled as well.

I wonder if they will give him a headline slot in a stadium against a journey man then have the press rave about his performance to the point where an undefeated 30 fight pro gets absolutely no headlines.

To break that down, Brook beat Jones and nobody in the press noticed. Campbell beat some local hoodie and got headline news on the BBC. But the hoodie was a tough cookie according to Sky so I suppose it was all worth it in the end.

Joshua will hopefully be out once a month like Hughie as they should market him into a fight against Hughie which would be good. Hopefully he doesnt end up like Price having about 4 fights in 2 years.

I remember Eddie Hearn saying he would never sign a heavyweight as the division is dull. Another wonder spoof from fastcar...

Rowley wrote:Can I just get in early before Winchester and say Wlad is ducking Joshua.

hahaha

armchairwarrior wrote:

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:Haye lost his bottle....Which is easy to do when someone 6-7 and 250 pounds is fighting you...

Or 5ft 8 and 300 in Rowley's case...........

Funny thing is I watched that HBO show with Wlad and Haye sitting across a table before the fight..and you could see Wlad's cool arrogance had Haye intimidated.. looking back..

Though not at the time..

Klits are too good and it's boring..because they are boring..

I like Haye Trussman. He is a very good all round boxer. I would love him to have another crack and go all out on WK. I really hate the term "punchers chance" but in this case, Davids overall high skill level and heavy handedness would give him I think still the best chance of any current heavyweight of KO'ing Wladimir if he went for it....I would cheer him if he got stopped himself but the fight was cracking and WK was rattled as well.

I usd to like him..but he's got no class................The toe stuff and the rest of it..

How contradicting considering you think Haye beats Foreman?

You confuse me Trussman and i have been a member on here for about twenty minutes.

Furysuppercut wrote:How contradicting considering you think Haye beats Foreman?

You confuse me Trussman and i have been a member on here for about twenty minutes.

okay...

Furysuppercut is Davide.

110%

Reborn-DeeMcK-Reborn wrote:Furysuppercut is Davide.

110%

???...do you mean David Haye?

Yea, Davide Haye

So this is confirmed now.

Joshua turns pro with Matchroom.

Debut will be headlining a show at the O2 in October.
Surely that's a stupidly large venue to headline on a pro debut....

Luke Campbell only managed to shift 7500 at that rugby ground and I would say he is arguably more famous to the general public and definitely in Hull.

Joshua will have been out of the ring for about 15 months as well.

Id say it will it Hearn showcasing all his Olympians and prospects in the same night.

Well the main undercard fighters on the poster are Lee Selby and Kevin Mitchell...

20,000 seats to sell...

Hmmm...

Think they may have misjudged this one.

This is all so wrong....and yet from the promoters angle is seems so right ££££$$$

Joshua V Doorman ( or similar ) - which in principle for a first pro fight is fine....but all lit up semi Vegas style with TV and pundits??

I really do think this new trend of showcase the new pro is very worrying. It could have a very detrimental effect on Joshua and it's bad bad bad for the sport

If he Ko's the guy mega quick then its not a contest

If he goes a few rounds then he's not that good.

No Win situation!!....only for Hearn the money man.

Couldn't happen in any other sport....

Same rules apply even if he is fighting in a small hall though. He will be fighting a mismatch and his performance will be no win really.

I dont think debut fights should be topping bills but more from the perspective of the quality of the contest.

manos de piedra wrote:Same rules apply even if he is fighting in a small hall though. He will be fighting a mismatch and his performance will be no win really.

I dont think debut fights should be topping bills but more from the perspective of the quality of the contest.

Same rules I agree but...not for mass consumption. Its all so misleading for the public at large, and only done to line pockets. Deeply unhelpful to boxing IMO.

It’s a virtually impossible position for a promoter, if there is a genuine ability of a fighter to shift thousands of tickets (and I doubt it in this instance) surely Hearn or any other promoter has an obligation to put it in a venue capable of facilitating that. Also if a guy can shift that many tickets he may be paid accordingly and stuffing him on an undercard in some leisure centre in Halifax is not going to do this.

Have said it before but if a fighter is good enough he will get there. Nobody in the last 50 years turned pro with more fanfare than Sugar Ray Leonard and he earned in complete disproportion to where he was in the game straight off the bat and Ray did not turn out too badly for the experience.

It shouldnt really be misleading though. Its a debut fight. I would hope even the most casual of boxing fans would be saavy enough to know what is what. Its like saying an international friendly match is deceiving the public into thinking its a competitive international. Or that prizefighter is conning the public into thinking its world clas stuff. Shouldnt really need explaining in my view.

I'd prefer it this way - much more worthwhile - if they had a bigger card or something - make it a proper night out - Get the lads (if they havent been sparked out or otherwise grievously injured) to spend half an hour mingling with the fans, signing stuff and just make it worth people bringing their kids over.

armchairwarrior wrote:
If he Ko's the guy mega quick then its not a contest

Just a bit of crazy info for you. The last 4 Super heavy gold medallists to turn pro were Lennox (1988), Wlad (1996), Audley (2000) & Povetkin (2004). Their first fights lasted a total of 10 minutes and 2 seconds between the four of them. It doesn't prove a thing. Wlad & Lennox turned out to be really rather good; the jury's still out on Povetkin & Audley couldn't deliver.

You take that back about A-Force... He always delivered.

No wait...

I'm thinking of my postman.

As you were.

jimdig wrote:I think he is right to turn pro. He's got his gold. No certainty of getting another in 4 years. May aswell turn now. I think in his case though, he still has alot to learn. Id like to see him being out out and about as much as hugey fury, he still has a craft to learn, so being active is now really important.

There will be a temptation to match him infrequently as a main event, which would be all wrong for him.

This is my issue. I worry press/fans/media will ruin his pro education. I'd like to see him following the Hughie Fury model - fighting once a month in the early stages, sod headlining, and some of your opponents will be limited and/or lardy, but that's the opportunity for you to learn and try new things.

I was not over impressed with him at the Olympics, to be honest i thought he was lucky to get the nod in the Semi and i also thought Cammarelle beat him in the final. Fair play to him for winning the gold, but i think he would have came away with a Bronze at best if the games were not in London. That said he seems a decent bloke and I hope he can sharpen himself up enough for the Pro ranks and give us English fight fans a proper contender for the title in a few years because Haye wont hang around forever and Fury is no where near top level as the upcoming battering he is gonna receive will prove.

He might not have got past the first round had it not been in London. That Cuban was medal worthy himself and could consider himself very unlucky.