6 Heavyweights Who Could Test Anthony Joshua
Anthony Joshua beat the experienced Denis Bakhtov inside two rounds on Saturday night in London to climb to an incredible but not ridiculous 22nd in the world on BoxRec's computerised heavyweight rankings.
Joshua is about to turn 25 and has only had nine professional fights lasting just 16 rounds, and yet it is now possible to wonder if he is Britain's best at the weight.
Indeed, promoter Eddie Hearn has already talked of him fighting the winner of Tyson Fury-Dereck Chisora or the semi-retired David Haye as early as next summer, according to Nick Parkinson of ESPN.co.uk (via Matt Lawless of Mail Online).
Promoters will promote, but that talk sounds premature when the London fighter has so little actual pro experience, a total of just 35 minutes and 14 seconds. Haye, Chisora and Fury have all completed the 36 minutes of a 12-round fight on more than one occasion.
The recent example of David Price shows what can go wrong when an inexperienced heavyweight is thrown into deep waters. Price, like Joshua an Olympic medallist, had never completed seven rounds before facing wily veteran Tony Thompson.
In their first fight the American caught Price cold in Round 2—in the rematch he came off the canvas to stop Price in Round 5 after it appeared that the Liverpool fighters had already run out of gas.
It wasn't so very long ago that it was Price being called the future of the heavyweight division, and Joshua needs to be handled carefully and to be moved up the ranks in small increments, as he has been to date.
While Bakhtov is a decent name to have on your record, he is also a 34-year-old who has been around and at 5'11.5", he gave up over six inches of height to Joshua—he never looked likely to spring an upset.
Here are six heavyweights who are realistic opponents for Joshua and could extend him beyond the third round for the first time, while not actually being expected to beat him.
6. Kevin Johnson
1 of 6
American
35 years old
29 wins, six defeats, one draw with 14 KOs
Fans of entertaining fights will not thank me for this suggestion, but there is no doubt that if rounds are what you want in the heavyweight division, then Kevin Johnson is your man.
Johnson may have six losses on his record, but he has only been knocked down once and has never really come close to getting stopped, despite fighting a still dangerous Vitali Klitschko in a 2009 world-title contest.
The New Jersey native is no stranger to UK fans, having lost to Tyson Fury two years ago in Belfast and Dereck Chisora in February of this year—Chisora being the one to score a knockdown in Round 5.
Johnson is a skilled spoiler, and the photo above shows him in his favourite pose, using his cross-arm defence to block Chisora. His frustrating style means he rarely takes a flush shot, and nobody has ever been able to consistently hurt him.
With a long, rangy jab and solid technical abilities, the American would have achieved more were it not for his fatal flaw—he has a strong dislike of throwing punches.
The low output of the 35-year-old has seen fairly mediocre fighters simply outwork him, such as Manuel Charr and Christian Hammer in the past 12 months alone.
With his passive style and negligible KO ratio, Johnson would have little chance of beating Joshua, but he would put his offensive skills to a test and likely extend him much later in a fight than he has gone to date.
Just don't expect much excitement.
5. Alexander Ustinov
2 of 6
Belarusian
37 years old
29 wins, one defeat with 21 KOs
Alexander Ustinov is best known in the UK as the man who nearly fought Fury in July—after Chisora pulled out of the date but before Fury did the same.
An inch-and-a-half taller than Joshua, and often weighing around four stone heavier (i.e. more than 50 pounds), were the Englishman to take this challenge on, he could no longer be accused of feasting on undersized opposition.
Ustinov is a more frightening prospect on paper than in reality, and his 70 percent KO ratio is deceiving given that all his best victories (over David Tua, Denis Bakhtov, Paolo Vidoz, Monte Barrett and Michael Sprott) have come on points.
The Belarusian is as immobile and uncoordinated as you might expect a man his size to be; Joshua should be able to outbox him quite comfortably.
The 37-year-old has only been stopped once, and that was by Kubrat Pulev, the Bulgarian widely seen as the No. 1 contender to champion Wladimir Klitschko.
Even then the 11th-round stoppage was as much through exhaustion and frustration as it was from any single punch, and Ustinov seemed to have his senses about him, making a conscious choice not to rise and beat the count.
If Joshua could equal or even better Pulev's performance that would show he has truly arrived in the division.
4. Lucas Browne
3 of 6
Australian
35 years old
21 wins out of 21, with 18 KOs
Lucas Browne, who only turned pro aged 29, is the least experienced fighter featured here, and partially through not having fought at the top level, he has the best KO ratio.
The Australian is the current Commonwealth heavyweight champion, so a win over him would secure Joshua's first proper title (with absolutely no apologies to the WBC International belt).
Last time out Browne was outboxed in the early rounds by the virtually unknown Andriy Rudenko before the Ukrainian slowed down and eventually lost the decision.
That suggests Joshua should not have a great deal of trouble with the New South Wales fighter, but he would always have to be wary of the big punch that Browne packs, and that should keep him honest and provide a good test of his concentration.
The 35-year-old has never been stopped because he has never fought anyone good enough to really test his durability. He is a game competitor, though, and a big lump at 260 pounds (18.5 stone), so it's hard to see him going down on the first punch.
Browne is promoted by Ricky Hatton's promotional company, and three of his last four fights have been held in the UK, so this would be an easy fight to make.
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
3. Tony Thompson
4 of 6
American
43 years old, middle of October
39 wins, five defeats, with 26 KOs
The final three fighters on this list are too much of an immediate step up for Joshua, but they could be good opponents once he's seen off the likes of a Johnson, a Ustinov or a Browne.
Tony Thompson would be seen as a risky opponent given the way he derailed the David Price hype train last year with two stoppage wins, as pictured above.
That is, however, precisely what would make this an easy sell for promoter Eddie Hearn, and a Joshua-Thompson fight could headline a big show.
The reality is that the Price wins were probably a last hurrah for Thompson who will be 43 before he fights again in a rematch with the perpetually globular Odlanier Solis.
He has recently lost wide decisions to Kubrat Pulev and Carlos Takam, looking his age and weighing in at a too heavy 270 pounds (a little over 19 stone) against the latter in June.
Thompson is still skilful and can certainly take a punch, having only ever been stopped by Wladimir Klitschko in two world-title challenges.
Joshua needs more rounds under his belt before facing the experienced American, but a convincing win would show him to be the real deal, where Price wasn't, and forestall the comparisons to the Liverpool fighter.
2. Mariusz Wach
5 of 6
Polish
34 years old
27 wins, one defeat, with 15 KOs
Standing a little taller than Joshua and weighing a stone heavier at around 250 pounds, Mariusz Wach is probably the closest available approximation to Wladimir Klitschko in terms of physique.
The Englishman's career may not overlap with the Ukrainian champion's, but with Joshua moving so fast up the ranks and the 38-year-old Wlad talking of extending his career a few more years, Wach would make good preparation for a potential showdown.
Wach does not have Klitschko's speed or flexibility, but he is more mobile than Ustinov and would make for an intriguing Joshua opponent.
The Polish-born fighter was unbeaten but largely unproven before facing Klitschko in late 2012, and he impressed many onlookers with his toughness, absorbing serious punishment, while going the distance with the champ, as punches bounced off his pronounced jaw.
Wach did hurt Wladimir at the back end of Round 5 in that one, and had it been earlier in a round, he could even have pulled off one of boxing's biggest-ever upsets.
If Wach could stand up to Klitschko, he could certainly do the same to Joshua, but you have to wonder if he would be willing to sign up for what you might anticipate to be another sustained beating.
He has not fought for nearly two years, although he has a comeback fight scheduled in Poland this weekend—if he comes through that, he will be back in the mix in the division.
1. Fres Oquendo
6 of 6
American/Puerto Rican
41 years old
37 wins, eight defeats, with 24 KOs
Perhaps the least known of these fighters to UK fans, Fres Oquendo has only fought outside of the U.S. once, that being his most recent contest against Ruslan Chagaev in Russia.
Oquendo lost a tight majority decision with the much-maligned WBA regular belt up for grabs in what was technically his third world-title challenge, having lost to John Ruiz and Chris Byrd back in the early 2000s.
The Puerto Rican-born fighter showed in his July outing that even at 41 he can still go 12 rounds at a reasonable pace and at a good level.
Oquendo is a savvy fighter who is not easily hurt. His last stoppage loss came all the way back in 2004 against Ruiz—his only other KO defeat was at the hands of feared puncher David Tua in 2002. Both of those came late on, in Round 11 and Round 9, respectively.
At 41, Oquendo should not have enough left to seriously trouble Joshua, but he is a good campaigner who does the basics right and who would offer a test with his resilience.
On his Twitter page, the adopted American describes himself as "avoided by many but willing to fight any" which is a fair reflection of his career. He deserves a good payday as a trial horse for the likes of Joshua, having kept himself in the heavyweight picture for nearly 15 years.
All fighter records from BoxRec.
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
