cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 
Anonymous User
Not applicable

Anthony Joshua won Gold at the 2012 London Olympics to reach the pinnacle of the amateur game. Now he's just won his 14th pro fight and hasn't even broke sweat.

 

The 24-year-old from Watford is following in the footsteps of an elite band of British boxing Olympians who went on to pursue fame and fortune in the pro game.

 

Anthony Joshua after winning Olympic Gold.

Lennox Lewis and Audley Harrison were both Super Heavyweights who won Olympic gold, in Seoul 1988 and Sydney 2000 respectively. Their subsequent pro careers panned out very differently and Joshua would do well to take note of the following dos and don’ts if he wants to avoid the pitfalls encountered by Audley, but instead go on to fulfil his undoubted potential like Lennox…

  

1. DO get yourself a manager you can trust

Lewis had a streetwise fight promoter called Frank Maloney looking after his affairs. Londoner Maloney guided his man through the murky waters of boxing and onto becoming the undisputed world heavyweight champ. On the other-side of the coin Harrison managed himself.

 

While he struck a million pound deal to broadcast his first 20 fights live on TV, Audley’s fights proved to be lacklustre affairs and his TV deal was eventually pulled. Joshua's career is being guided by Matchroom's Eddie Hearn (son of Barry) and so far so good.

 

AJ with his team

 

2. DON’T get big-headed

One of the great things about Audley when he first hit the scene was the way he could articulate his many opinions utilising his impressive vocabulary. It was only after he had won his gold medal at the Sydney Olympics that he started to talk about himself in the third person, which is a sure sign of a boxer heading down the wrong path. “Audley Harrison has a plan”, “Audley Harrison is the man” ecetera  ecetera.

 

 

 

3. DO play chess and learn how to strategise

Lennox was also a very intelligent man but, was more of a thinker than a talker. His love of chess was well documented and he would relate the board game’s strategic ploys to the more ‘sweet science’ of boxing. He knew how to defend himself but would always be quick to take advantage of weaknesses in an opponent’s armoury.

 

Joshua with his two role models Audley Harrison and Lennox Lewis.

4. DON’T fight too many ‘Mexican Road Sweepers’

Every contender has to rise up the rankings through careful match-ups when they first turn pro. To get up to standard a good manager will put their man with ‘club’ fighters who basically get paid for making the other guy look good and have no chance of winning. Audley fought too many of these stooges and gradually lost the admiration and respect of fight fans.

 

 

5. DO keep your nickname simple

Nicknames in boxing are important. ‘IRON’ Mike Tyson and Thomas ‘THE HIT MAN’ Hearns are two of the best examples of monikers that resonate with simplicity and descriptive power. While Lennox favoured Jamaican-Rastafarian inspired ‘THE LION’ as his emblematic title, Audley’s ‘A-FORCE’ was far too contrived and easy for headline writers to mock. For Joshua, ‘AJ’ does the job just fine.

 

6. DON’T take roles in movies when you should be training

Lennox Lewis was the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world, on top of his game and untouchable. So when preparing to defend his titles against little known American journeyman boxer, Hasim Rahman in 2001, he felt it could afford took time out from training to film a cameo role in Hollywood movie ‘Ocean’s 13’ with Brad Pitt and George Clooney. Rahman went on to shock the world of boxing by winning the fight by knockout!

 

Joshua doing what Joshua does

7. DO try and throw punches when you’re in the ring

Harrison spent most of his career trying to get a shot at the title. After many ups-and-downs, Audley finally got his chance when he fought David Haye for the WBA Heavyweight belt in 2010. Unfortunately for the big man he was blitzed by ‘THE HAYEMAKER’ and got knocked out in the third round. Statistics from the fight showed that for the duration of the fight Harrison only managed to land one punch.

 

  

8. DON’T bring out an autobiography until you’ve finished your career in boxing

‘Realising the dream’ was Audley Harrison immediate attempt to take advantage of his Olympic boxing success. That ‘dream’ should have been the start of the journey and not the end destination. It was indeed a novel idea but a little premature in the grand scheme of things.

 

Don't forget to tune in to NOW TV for the very best of British boxing

 

 

7 Comments