Anthony Joshua only has something to lose in the giant fight.
The boxing year culminates in a stunningly uneven match in Miami.
England’s Anthony Joshua, the Olympic champion and former heavyweight world champion, will face Jake Paul, who is only at the beginning of his career.
– The skill and experience difference is so big that this is a bit like putting a rink team to play ice hockey with the Montreal Canadiens, predicts Iltalehti’s martial arts expert Jaakko Dahlbacka.
One rule for Joshua was written into the match contract. At the weigh-in, the wise man is allowed to stop at a maximum of 245 pounds (about 111 kilograms).
Paul already had time to paint threatening pictures for Joshua in the interviews.
– Joshua took a risk when he agreed to it. He doesn’t get to utilize his power levels in the same way at a lighter weight. Maybe he wants to take a more tactical match, Paul muttered.
Paul’s speeches are quite absurd. Joshua weighed in at 240 pounds for his rematch Oleksandr Usykia against. It was a unanimous decision loss, but the fight is still considered the best of Joshua’s professional career.
The statistics show several fights where Joshua has weighed less than 245 pounds.
Anthony Joshua is almost a head taller and significantly heavier than Jake Paul. PDO
– Joshua is never in bad shape between matches. I don’t think weight has any bearing on this match. At least Jake Paul gets to eat when he fights in the heavyweight division for the first time.
But why do millions of people around the world want to see such an uneven match?
– People are so gullible that they want to believe in fairy tales, improbabilities and cinderella stories. In combat sports, the smaller or weaker can theoretically win because one hit can be enough. In ice hockey, the other team can always equalize after one setback.
– I guess it’s the romantic idea that something like this could happen. Or in the most perverse way: we want to see that such a disgusted entertainment star is properly dragged into the mud. That’s pretty sick! After all, Paul is not a criminal.
Dahlbacka will be interested to see if Paul has improved as a boxer and if Joshua is still uneven after his latest losses.
– Joshua is more fragile mentally than physically.
A knock on conspiracy theories
Anthony Joshua’s punching power is brutal. PDO
– I’ve also been asked if the match has been agreed in advance if Joshua doesn’t knock out, Dahlbacka says.
However, it should be noted that the match is a sanctioned, official professional match, which leaves a mark in the statistics. In addition, it is a betting destination, and betting companies could not start offering scripted matches to be played.
No one seems to think about whether Joshua wants to accumulate only ring minutes and at the same time show good sportsmanship against a clearly weaker team.
– People can use common sense. Joshua can beat Paul nicely from the body to the yard or otherwise just be aggressive.
The match night shown by Netflix starts at 3:00 on Saturday morning.