By Keith Idec
Anthony Joshua appears to have changed his opinion about the importance of fighting in the United States.
Based on the big business he is doing in the United Kingdom, where boxing is more popular than ever, Joshua seemingly would be well within his right to tell Deontay Wilder and anyone else that wants to fight him that they’ll have to travel to England to make it happen. But the unbeaten IBF heavyweight champion said during a conference call Wednesday that he would consider coming to the United States to make his debut on American soil if he defeats former champion Wladimir Klitschko (64-4, 53 KOs) in their huge heavyweight title fight Saturday at Wembley Stadium in London (Showtime: 4:15 p.m. ET/1:15 p.m. PT; HBO: 11 p.m. ET/PT).
The wildly popular Joshua also strangely mentioned fighting Gerald Washington (18-1-1, 12 KOs) in the United States. Washington was stopped in the fifth round of his February 25 fight against Wilder (38-0, 37 KOs), the WBC heavyweight champion, in Birmingham, Alabama, Wilder’s hometown.
“We could fight Gerald Washington,” Joshua said. “We could fight Deontay Wilder, Bermane Stiverne. … I’ve always made sure I fought some Americans on my way up, so you see me get a buzz out there. But I think you have to come out there and fight for sure. That’s the most important thing.”
Great Britain’s biggest boxing stars of the past two-plus decades all have traveled to the United States to try to make their marks in America. Lennox Lewis, Naseem Hamed, Ricky Hatton, Joe Calzaghe, Amir Khan and Carl Froch each have had some of their biggest fights in the U.S.
Though he has the potential to become a bigger star than all of them in the boxing-crazed United Kingdom, the 27-year-old Joshua (18-0, 18 KOs) thinks it’s important to follow in their footsteps by crossing the Atlantic Ocean for a fight. The 2012 Olympic gold medalist also believes American fight fans will take to him when he fights in the U.S.
“Yeah, 100 percent,” Joshua said. “America is the mecca of boxing. If you can cross over to the States, you’ll keep the fan base in the UK. … I think that’s mega-stuff. That’s global boxing. You’ve got a big guy, heavyweight, a name that’s easy to pronounce, I can speak English well, so I feel I can relate to the U.S. market. All I have to do now is come out there and fight, and show them what my trade is. Obviously, they’ll appreciate it, and then we can talk about setting up major fights that’s bringing the same attention in the UK to the U.S. And that would be phenomenal.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
