SAN FRANCISCO, December 08, (THEWILL) – British heavyweight boxer, David Haye, in his conversation about the hottest boxing topic of recent, described a slight twist of fortune when he claimed that Anthony Joshua’s first professional defeat was ‘the best thing to ever happen’ to Joshua. He even went as far as to predict that it could even give him a ‘slight edge’ over Tyson Fury when that time comes.
On Saturday, December 12, Joshua will enter the ring to defend his World Boxing Organisation (WBO), World Boxing Association (WBA) and International Boxing Federation (IBF) titles against Bulgarian challenger Kubrat Pulev.
Victory for Joshua will clear the path for an undisputed world heavyweight title fight against World Boxing Council (WBC) champion Fury next year.
Although the still unbeaten Fury enhanced his reputation with a dominant win over American heavyweight boxer Deontay Wilder in February, Haye holds that Joshua has been instilled with new-found dedication after the loss to American Andy Ruiz Jr last year shattered Joshua’s own perfect record.
Haye, popularly called “The Hayemaker”, himself a former unified Cruiserweight World Champion and WBA Heavyweight Champion of the World was able to pick himself back up for the unified title after losing to Carl Thompson in 2004.
“I think that was the best thing to ever happen to Anthony Joshua. I think he’s going to become the fighter he was always going to be, because he’s got that taste of defeat and he doesn’t like that.
“None of us winners like that taste of defeat and if there’s anything humanly possible to get back into your winning run, no matter how hard you have to dedicate yourself, what type of sparring, what type of pain behind the scenes, you don’t want that feeling of a loss.
“It’s been a long, long time since Tyson Fury had the taste of a loss. A very, very long time. Many years. Anthony Joshua knows what it feels like recently, so I think that gives him a slight edge. It sounds crazy. I think that gives him an edge, because he doesn’t want to rely on his natural attributes. He wants to make sure he wins this fight.”
Haye argues that Joshua is yet to produce his finest performance, despite his success at the Olympic and world title level, and claims that the 31-year-old remains the sole genuine threat to Fury.
“This is a serious test for him now, Kubrat Pulev, and then it’s the big one.
“Then, it’s the Tyson-Fury fight and I think there is only one guy in the world who the odds makers will give a legitimate chance of beating Tyson Fury. That’s someone as powerful, as strong, as fast, as motivated as Anthony Joshua.
“He will be the underdog in that fight, but write Anthony Joshua off at your peril. I don’t think we’ve seen the best of Anthony Joshua yet. I think over the next three years the real Anthony Joshua will come out.
“He came to boxing late. He hasn’t been boxing since he was a little kid, like Tyson Fury. He’s had to fast-track himself and there have been gaps as he’s been fast-tracking himself, so he’s now filling these gaps in.”
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
