WBA Super, IBO and IBF heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua had a recent mishap in training camp, and upcoming opponent, WBO champion Joseph Parker, is having a field day with it.
Joshua spoke to media at the Dorchester Hotel to promote his upcoming bout with Parker at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff on March 31st, and admitted to getting dropped by Olympic bronze medallist David Price.
Parker has been talking about this then-rumor for some time now and has a ton of confidence he'll be able to “put on a great performance, hopefully catch him on the chin and knock him out.” Joshua has other plans, however.
Joshua had this to say about getting dropped by Price in sparring (quotes via Boxing Scene):
“A lot of people have spoke about me getting dropped and, hand on my heart, have used it as a PR stunt, in terms of what you’re using it as, too,” Joshua told Duco Events head David Higgins at the top table in front of a packed presser.
“It’s a marketability strategy. And when you want to talk about facts, the three times I’ve been hurt or dropped were in the European Championships when [my coach Rob] McCracken knows I was actually banned from the GB team because I was still getting in to trouble.
“I went back to Watford, I stopped boxing and two weeks before that European Championships, I was called up to represent the country. I was very unfit but I didn’t get dropped, I was stopped. When your tank is empty, it’s hard to perform.”
As for his fight with Parker, Joshua feels that his training camp has been going extraordinarily well and he plans on landing some devastating shots to Parker's durable chin:
“I am leaps and bounds ahead compared to the Klitschko and Takam fights,” said Joshua to The Guardian.
“I’m watching what I eat, running further and doing more than I did last year. Last week I did 20 rounds in the gym which I wasn’t even doing for Klitschko, and we’re still 11 weeks to the Parker fight.
“I think speed is in power. When you’re heavy and you try to club these durable fighters, it’s not that simple just to go ‘boom’.
"Just because I’m the most muscly man, it doesn’t mean I can just hit someone and knock them out. It’s the shot that you don’t see coming that knocks you out.
"When I’m quicker – bang, bang, bang – that’s when I can knock my opponents down a lot easier.”
What are your thoughts on Joshua admitting to getting dropped by Price in sparring? Do you think this makes a difference in what's going to happen between Joshua and Parker come March? And who are you picking for the heavyweight collision? Let us know your thoughts on the matter in the comments section below!
Do YOU want to write for GiveMeSport? Get started today by signing-up and submitting an article HERE: http://gms.to/writeforgms