By Corey Erdman
It's impossible to predict what will happen in a heavyweight fight, but both Charles Martin and Anthony Joshua are willing to make promises.
Both Martin and Joshua boldly stated that they will knock the other out on a conference call Monday, ahead of their April 9 clash for the IBF heavyweight title at the O2 Arena in London, England.
Martin is making his first defense of the IBF strap he won from Vyacheslav Glazkov in 2015.
Statistics would show that the fight not lasting 12 rounds is indeed a solid bet. Joshua has stopped every single opponent he has faced as a professional, while Martin has done the same to all but two. Needless to say, their confidence is understandable.
“When I look at Charles Martin as an individual, it's not that I see weaknesses, but I think I'm the better man,” said Joshua. “When I look at the fight itself, it's not a problem.”
Joshua is perhaps the most hyped heavyweight prospect of the past decade, a distinction backed up by the record-breaking ticket sales generated for this fight, having sold out the 02 Arena in a reported 90 seconds. His previous bout against Dillian Whyte took just six hours to sell out the same venue.
Promoter Eddie Hearn is no doubt thrilled about the rapid sell-outs, but would likely be even more elated if his charge were victorious in similarly quick fashion.
“Charles Martin has never been hit on the chin,” said Eddie Hearn. “(Joshua) has the fastest hands I've seen in the division in a long time, and a total disregard for what's coming back at him. So much so, that I've never seen a man unload in front of another man like this since Mike Tyson.”
“The bookies put me as the favorite, but I'm an underdog, I'm a challenger that can come in and annihilate a champion, kind of like when Tyson fought Berbick. Don't give Charles Martin a chance, just outlass him,” added Joshua, who predicted that he will knock Martin out inside six rounds.
For two fighters facing off for a heavyweight title, both men are relatively inexperienced, with only 39 fights combined between them. Martin, however, feels that the added nine fights he has on his resume will make a big difference come Saturday night.
“I don't feel that he's comfortable enough in the ring, especially not with me in there,” said Martin. "He's not ready. He's gonna get tired like he always gets, thinking he's gonna go five rounds, and that's when I'm going to jump on him. I know I will knock him out.”
The one thing we can be certain of is that only one of them can be right.
