Anthony Joshua has never been in with a southpaw. Is this a big advantage for Martin?

[BOXEO _]

Wilder knocks both these foo's out.

[Crazylegs77]

I still don't know is Martin can even throw punches. I didn't see any punches in his last fight.

[denium]

Wilder knocks both these foo's out.

There's a reason why Birdlegs has been defending his paper belt against Polish football hooligans. He's a bum.

[Earl-Hickey]

There's a reason why Birdlegs has been defending his paper belt against Polish football hooligans. He's a bum.

Wilder the real champ, man

Wilder got the WBC belt, that's the real belt at heavyweigh yo

yo wilder knock this bum fury out, wilder v martin is real unification

[denium]

Wilder the real champ, man

Wilder got the WBC belt, that's the real belt at heavyweigh yo

yo wilder knock this bum fury out, wilder v martin is real unification

Poor troll effort.

[Tom Cruise]

Amazing how things like this get so overlooked I mean you are the first person I've seen mention/question this.

No he hasn't fought any southpaws as a pro and had very limited experience against southpaws in the amateurs I think he fought two (Zhang & Camarelle)
Zhang fight was close the latter he lost on both occasions (gifted the rematch).

Its going to be interesting because not only is he a southpaw unlike 99% he is a two handed southpaw. He has a good right hook.

To me this is an interesting fight because as much as people say Martin has only fought bums and such the same can be said for Joshua. He is just as unproven as Martin and possibly more so.

Clearly beat Zhang. Two close fights with Cammerelle, neither were gifts IMO. Not bad considering his experience at the time

To the OP, yes its an advantage for Martin imo. He has a much bigger chance of catching Joshua early with punches coming from angles he isnt used to, but that advantage gets smaller as the fight goes on.

This is a dangerous fight for Joshua no matter how much people try and down play Martin

[denium]

It's an advantage but Joshua will still smash him. Martin is too slow & his defence is garbage. Joshua will detonate bombs on him.

[Fury4daWIN]

Understatement of the century.

Look at the number of wins column of both fighters opponents and add them up.

Despite fighting way less opponents Joshua's is more than double. He has been fighting experienced pros. Martin has been fighting relatively green fighters.

Erm, Glazkov?

[ianjamsie]

Erm, Glazkov?

Who did his leg in hitting Martin.

Bit of a stretch.

[l9uis]

Okay I have had a look at quite a few of Martins fights

He actually has quite good timing. Picking his shots well.

People seem to mistake his patient style for being slow. There's a difference. Joshua comes out in round one, bang, bang, and its an explosive style.

Martin is relaxed... Loose... Calm. Patiently waiting and picks his shots well. Jab is a nuisance and a decent range-finder, paws it a little but he looks heavy handed so the blunt force of the jab will still be felt. He actually puts some punches in bunches and isn't as bad as everyone is making out.

He has some skills and throws some good counters. When a fighter comes at him, Martin takes a simple step back, pulls his head back, and throws a well timed counter. It looks like a simple execution but it isn't and not many heavies can do this despite it being quite effective.

Joshua seems to struggle defending on the right side where he doesn't see the punches coming. Martin being southpaw, will take advantage of that. Joshua hasn't fought a southpaw in the pros yet.

Still, some lighter footwork, slipping of the head movement and better conditioning wouldn't go amiss for Martin lol.

The excitement of a heavyweight fight means all it takes is one punch in round 1 or 12 to end a fight. I'm still going for Joshua 60/40 in his favour. So while I expect a Joshua win... A 40% chance is still quite big for Martin. There were more questions than answers from Joshua's last win against Whyte.

Side note... The IBF rankings are horrible. With the red and gold crown...its by far the best looking belt. But how on earth is this organisation happy to mandate some of these fighters?

While Joshua ideally isn't ready to be world champ, the fact that some of his mandatory defences will be against some very poor opposition makes up for this. Enabling him to still learn on the job while having a world title around his waist.

Eddie Hearn seems to have spotted this.

Kell Brook has the IBF and his mandatries were JoJo Dan and Kevin Bizier (can't wait for Errol Spence to actually be in line next).

IBF Super Middleweight Champ James Degale is fighting a guy next who I have never heard of.

And looking at the IBF heavyweight rankings, its a who's-who of bums. Aside from Joseph Parker, who I think can be a genuine contender.

How can the bosses at IBF be happy to actually have these fighters representing their belts?

If I was head of IBF I would be corrupt as fxck if those people were in line for my belt next lol.

Being champ was meant to mean the best fighting the best. From the defences of Brook to Degale to Martin... The IBF are not holding themselves very high in this respect.