Dominic Breazeale Ticks All the Boxes but Won't Worry Champion Anthony Joshua

As they prepare to share a ring on June 25, Anthony Joshua and Dominic Breazeale have plenty in common.

The two heavyweights are unbeaten, combining for 33 straight victories.

They are former Olympians, too, as both turned pro after competing at the 2012 London Games.

They are tall—Joshua is 6'6", while Breazeale stands at 6'7". They are also powerful—Joshua has never made it past Round 7 in 16 outings, while his rival has registered 15 knockouts in 17 bouts.

On paper, the American looks to be a dangerous test for Joshua, who will be making the first defence of his IBF title at the O2 Arena in London.

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Sadly for Breazeale, neither records nor body measurements will decide the fight in the English capital. The challenger may be more of a pretender than a serious contender.

While Joshua struck gold in the super heavyweight division at the 2012 Olympics, Breazeale—a former quarterback at the University of Northern Colorado—failed to clear the first hurdle in the same weight class.

He is at least unbeaten in the paid ranks but was fortunate to record a win in his last outing.

Against the 32-year-old Amir Mansour, Breazeale was struggling. He had been knocked down in Round 3 and was well behind on the scorecards by the end of Round 5, per BoxRec.

However, Mansour retired before the start of Round 6, unable to carry on having bitten through his tongue. The injury required five hours of surgery to repair, such was the damage done to the inside of his mouth.

Breazeale's below-par performance against Mansour was not just a one-off. He had issues against Fred Kassi in September 2015, too.

While he won the 10-rounder comfortably on points, the 30-year-old was too often caught by his opponent’s swinging hooks:

If he is so open against Joshua, Breazeale will be a sitting duck.

The Englishman has built his reputation on tenderising large chunks of beef—stand still in front of him for too long and you are just asking to be pummelled.

Charles Martin talked the talk before facing Joshua on April 9. He arrived as the IBF champion with an unbeaten record, but he left minus a belt and with only a big fat cheque for company on the flight home.

A solid jab might help keep Joshua at bay, yet John Dennen of Boxing News doesn’t believe Breazeale has that punch in his armoury: "As well as his booming straight cross, Joshua’s jab is a great weapon. Breazeale’s isn’t. He pushes it out uneasily, he’s not a smooth boxer nor does he keep his defence together."

So, just to be clear, Breazeale has a weak jab, is ponderous in his movement and has a defensive technique that is easy to breach. I think we all know how this movie ends.

Journalist Mike Coppinger of USA Today fears the visiting fighter will go the same way as Joshua's previous 16 opponents:

However, Breazeale is the ideal choice of opponent when it comes to ticking boxes.

He is from the United States, giving Joshua another chance to increase his profile across the Atlantic.

He is unbeaten with a string of knockout wins, suggesting he poses some kind of threat.

He is also ranked in the top 15 by the IBF.

Despite all the signs pointing to another quick win for Joshua, the reigning champion isn’t taking anything for granted. He said in Matchroom’s press release to confirm the bout: "It’s sure to be explosive, both of us like to let our hands go and score knockouts, we are both undefeated and both have Olympic pedigree."

Olympic pedigree is perhaps stretching the truth, Anthony.

Joshua has a gold medal to remind him of competing in the Games four years ago. In contrast, Breazeale has a tracksuit hanging in his wardrobe.

In a video interview with Sky Sports (h/t Andy Burton and Richard Damerell of the Sky Sports website), promoter Eddie Hearn revealed there were three possible opponents for Joshua's maiden defence: Breazeale, Bermane Stiverne and Eric Molina.

Take a look at the IBF’s ratings and it becomes clear Hearn wasn’t picking from a position of strength.

Carlos Takam and Joseph Parker will face each other to discover the identity of Joshua’s mandatory challenger, while Dereck Chisora and Kubrat Pulev do battle for the European title on May 7.

With Erkan Teper a no-go having failed a drug test and Vyacheslav Glazkov still recovering from the serious knee injury he suffered against Martin in January, Hearn was hardly left with a buffet of brilliant heavyweights to feed to his hungry lion. It was more like the bargain bin at his local supermarket.

Molina—last seen knocking out Tomasz Adamek—might have provided more of a threat, while Stiverne has pedigree from his spell as WBC champion. Both, though, have lost to WBC champion Deontay Wilder.

The long-term plan is a huge domestic showdown with Tyson Fury—the IBF stripped him of the IBF title just weeks after he took it from Wladimir Klitschko.

Fury has to complete his contractual obligation to give Klitschko a rematch. That second meeting between the pair takes place on July 9 in Manchester, England.

If the reigning IBO, WBA and WBO champion beats the Ukrainian for a second successive time, the path is clear for Fury to face Joshua towards the end of 2016.

Before then, Breazeale has been selected from a very short list of candidates for Joshua's first title defence.

The 30-year-old Californian is nicknamed Trouble. It could be the perfect word to sum up his situation when he enters the ring on June 25.

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