Anthony Joshua’s incredible power against Joseph Parker’s relentless stamina… how do the two heavyweights compare ahead of their huge unification showdown in Cardiff?
Though the British-Nigerian boxer has been made a huge favourite to pick up a fourth belt and extend his record to 21-0, but those in the know believed this one is much closer than the bookmakers’ odds suggest.
Joshua has also revealed that losing is one of the biggest fears that make him nervous more than anything else in the sport but he has however been confident to emerge victorious comes March 31, in Cardiff.
The two men are at relatively similar stages of their respective careers.
Parker, a world champion with 24 fights and 24 wins, 18 of those by knockout. Joshua, a world champion with 20 fights and 20 wins, all coming by knockout. But when it comes to a comparison there is one name that sets the two fighters apart.
Joshua’s stunning victory over Wladimir Klitschko was seen as a passing of the torch moment for a division that the Ukrainian dominated for over 10 years.
Parker has more rounds under his belt but has never beaten someone on the level of Klitschko nor fought on a stage like this one. When it comes to the one man both have faced, Carlos Takam, neither shone but Joshua secured a stoppage while Parker was taken all the way.
Parker is still waiting for his breakout fight, Joshua has had his.
With one fighter set to fall to their first professional defeat Joshua has however said, “In boxing, losing is the one thing you are nervous about. Nobody wants their ‘0’ to go. You don’t plan on getting beat, in every other sport you can lose and bounce back.”
When asked by the reporter whether losing scared him personally, Joshua responded: “Yeah, because it is the sport we are in.
“[Roger] Federer is still known as a great but we don’t know the 10 people who have beaten him before.
For boxing, that loss stays on your record for eternity. Losing doesn’t define you though; it’s how you move forward that defines you. You have to know where you are going.
“When I look at heavyweight boxing, you look at [Wladimir] Klitschko and he wanted to be a three-time heavyweight champion of the world, he lost and came back – If I lost, I’d dust myself off and go again.
It would show people’s mindset if they discredited everything I had done up until that point because of one defeat.”
The British-Nigerian boxer will be up against WBO Champion, Joseph Parker on Saturday, 31st March in Cardiff.
