Joshua chomping at the bit to fight Parker

Boxingnews24.com

By Scott Gilfoid: Joseph Parker and his promoter David Higgins have gotten IBF/WBA heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua riled up to the point where he’s anxious to get the fight underway next year, according to promoter Eddie Hearn.

The negotiations are close to being agreed on. The purse split is what Hearn and Higgins are working on right now, but it looks good. Hearn sounds optimistic that he’ll be able to get the fight done.

Recently, Hearn said that he was not agreeable to the 65-35 split of the money that Parker and Higgins are asking for. However, it appears that the two sides are going to eventually agree on a number close to that. It might be 2 to 3 percentage points lower. It’s believed that Hearn is interested in a 70-30 split for the Joshua vs. Parker fight. That number isn’t going to work for WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder, who is asking for a 50-50 split of the money for their proposed fight in 2018.

”They have done a good job on Anthony Joshua, because his message to me last night was very simple, ‘let me at him,’” said Hearn to Sky Sports News.

Parker is a dangerous opponent for Joshua, because he’s got youth, size and punching power. Parker also is a well-conditioned fighter, who can move and fight hard for 12 rounds. Parker will still be fighting hard long after Joshua gasses out in the second half of the fight. What makes Joshua so vulnerable is he can gas out at any time in a fight.

It wouldn’t be surprising if Joshua gets knocked out by Parker. Joshua is looking worse with each fight, and he appears to be on the decline already at 28. Joshua’s zenith of his career was a couple of years ago when he was 26. He’s now starting to show stamina problems, which could be tied into his decision to keep adding more muscle mass with each fight. Joshua started his career out at 230 pounds just 4 years ago in 2013.

Joshua has now added an incredible 24 pounds of muscle in just 4 years, and it’s really slowed him down, making him less effective. In Joshua’s last fight against Carlos Takam, he weighed in at 254 pounds. Throughout the contest, Joshua was gasping for air, looking like a fish out of water.

Obviously, all the body building muscle that Joshua has packed on has caused him to tire easily in his fights. What was troubling about Joshua was the fact that he said after the fight that he believes he’s going to continue to be this heavy. It’s as if he didn’t even want to entertain the idea of cutting some of his useless muscle to trim down to a weight that is better for his body. I got the impression that Joshua is stubborn about his weight, and his desire to keep his huge muscles.

When you get a stubborn person like Joshua, they become resistant to change, and they tend to self-implode. Right now, Joshua is his own worst enemy. He doesn’t need an opponent to hurt his performances inside the ring. Joshua is doing it himself with his decision to keep lifting weights and to stay the same size. Of course, Joshua isn’t likely going to stay the same size.

Joshua is getting bigger with each passing year. Believe it or not, Joshua weighed 245 pounds just last year in 2016. In one year, Joshua has added 10 pounds of muscle. Try that yourself. It’s not easy to do. When you’re talking pure muscle, it’s very, very hard to gain even 5 pounds of muscle in one year. With Joshua, he’s added close to 10 pounds. If Joshua continues to gain weight, it’s quite possible we’ll see him in the 260s in the next 2 years. 260 is very possible for Joshua. Joshua is heading towards becoming the same size as Primo Carnera.

“He’s winding him up, he’s pushing the right buttons to get the bite out of Anthony Joshua and Anthony wants to fight Joseph Parker. He wants to do a job on him and we hope it’s the next fight for the spring,” said Hearn.

Joshua needs to calm down. Being hyped up for the Parker fight will only hurt his performance inside the ring. Joshua needs to remember that he has stamina problems, major stamina problems. Joshua isn’t going to be able to beat a talented heavyweight like Parker by bum rushing him right off the bat like he’s done most of his less than stellar opponents during his 4-year pro career.

If Joshua comes rushing out of the gate like a race horse against Parker, he’s going to wind up gassing out and pulling up lame after the first round or two. Joshua gassed badly against Wladimir Klitschko last April. Heck, the only reason Joshua didn’t get knocked out in that fight was because Wladimir didn’t have the sense enough to know that he needed to try and finish him. Parker isn’t someone that needs to be told to attack Joshua when/if he gasses out. Parker is wise enough and brave enough to go for the coup de grace if Joshua fades early against him.

Joshua should try and come into the Parker fight in a calm manner. He needs to box this guy, and try and stun him with a single shot. If Joshua can hurt Parker, then he can go ahead and unload on him. But I wouldn’t recommend Joshua pushing for an early knockout against Parker, because he could run into something big and wind up getting knocked cold in front of his boxing fans on the night.