• Steve Bunce

Real deal? Big Josh is on the right path

Anthony Joshua needed just two rounds to get past Denis Bakhtov at the O2 Arena © Getty Images

Enlarge

"I said to myself no matter what happens now, I just have to be able to leave the ring with my head held high. That was all it was about - standing proud and knowing that I could do no more." Anthony Joshua at the end of round two in the Olympics - he was trailing by 3 points.

At last people have an opinion on Anthony Joshua and even if most think that he could beat every heavyweight on the planet in back-to-back fights, they still have an opinion. Is he a hype-job or the real deal?

Big Josh is an exceptional talent, that is beyond dispute, but so far in nine fights he has gone 1, 2, 2, 2, 1, 1, 2, 3 and 2 rounds, which means he has only completed seven full three-minute rounds. Thankfully, Joshua is aware of his limitations at this point in his career.

Buncey's Vault

Lennox Lewis went on to fight Zeljko Mavrovic in Connecticut © Getty Images

• Lennox Lewis was considering an offer to fight in Tenerife after a meeting between Frank Maloney, his manager, and John Palmer, an expatriate 'who has a vast fortune from property developments and a world-wide time share business.'
  
  Maloney refused to fly to the Canaries to discuss the fight further but admitted: "A substantial offer has been made and our lawyers are considering the proposal." Maloney was very excited about the deal.
  
  Maloney added: "There are so many British holidaymakers in Tenerife at that time of year it would be like fighting at home for Lennox." Palmer was prepared to 'stage the fight in the early hours of the morning to permit an early evening live screening in America.' Sadly, it never happened and Lewis defended his world heavyweight title against an unbeaten Croatian at a casino in Connecticut instead.
  
  As reported in the Daily Telegraph, May 25, 1998.

"It takes time to become a heavyweight," Joshua said after stopping Kazakh Denis Bakhtov on Saturday night at the O2. "I will keep beating people and getting better. That is how it works. It will be Michael Sprott next and after that I will move up."

Bakhtov was a good opponent and far better than the men selected for the ninth fight in the careers of great boxers like Wladimir Klitschko, Frank Bruno and Lennox Lewis. The truth is that Bakhtov on paper was meant to last a few rounds, prove a bit more awkward and tell us all a bit more about Joshua's progress.

The Kazakh was carrying a bit of timber but his resistance was proven having gone the distance with about a dozen decent fighters, including in recent years the unbeaten eastern bloc trio of Andrzej Wawrzyk, Alexander Ustinov and Vyacheslav Glazkov. They might not be household names, or easy to pronounce, but they can all fight and they all failed to stop Bakhtov.

In his ninth fight Lennox Lewis was served up a treat in the form of human sacrifice Mike Simuwelu at the Royal Albert Hall. The Zambian was bombed out in less than a minute and his record was as poor as his performance. Simuwelu had been stopped in two of his previous three fights and, considering the way the business has changed to try and halt outrageous mismatches, he would have been refused a licence to fight Joshua.

The great Wladimir, like Lewis and Joshua an Olympic super-heavyweight champion, was given the glorious Salvador Maciel to slaughter in his ninth fight. Maciel was fresh from four consecutive knockout defeats and was sploshed in the first round. Wlad was fed a lot of fodder when he started out as a pro and that is something we forget now when we look at the finished and impressive fighter he has become.

When Frank Bruno, in his Union Jack shorts, had his ninth fight he was matched with the German George Butzbach at Wembley Arena. It lasted just 120 seconds, but German George was not terrible. He had once beaten the veteran Jean-Pierre Coopman over 10 rounds, but in the fight before Bruno he had lost to a fella called Casanova, who had entered the ring with seven wins and six losses on his record. Butzbach would also fail to get a licence to fight Joshua now.

There are minor exceptions and the career of 2004 Olympic super-heavyweight champion Alexander Povetkin was handled brilliantly from the start. In his ninth fight he fought an American called Ed Mahone, who had been stopped in his previous three fights. Povetkin won in five but Mahone had fought Vitali Klitschko for the WBO heavyweight title and was a decent fighter. It should also be remembered that Wlad, Lennox and Alexander all had hundreds of amateur fights - Joshua barely had 40 before his Olympic win.

Right now Anthony Joshua doesn't have to be anything - he doesn't have to be classified as a hype job or the real thing. Big Josh just needs to stay happy, stay fit and see where he is in 12 months time.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd