Imagine the rabid, angry comments left under this article if it was suggested that Anthony Joshua was not so much the champion of the world as the champion of a fairly small island.
What? How could someone say such a thing? ?AJ? is recognized as world champ by three of the four major sanctioning bodies. His body of work includes decisive wins within the distance against legitimate world stage fighters like Wladimir Klitschko and now Alexander Povetkin.
True, Joshua is just fine staying in the UK, self-isolated on his home turf and confident that the world will have to come to HIM. But stardom has its privileges and even if one would care to debate the depth of his pro r?sum?, the reality is that he has the pull and the push to fight anywhere he damn well chooses.
Hold your angry comments. This article is certainly not suggesting that Joshua is some sort of island champ because he prefers to keep things close to home. ?AJ? is the real deal world champ.
But?
There WILL be some who suggest that a fighter brought up with star treatment and given his first crack at a world title before he had actually become a fully developed world class fighter is just asking for cynicism by staying at home?forever.
More and more, boxing is a sport with two distinct faces. There?s the business side and the competitive side.
Competitively, it would be good to see Joshua tested in a place where everything wasn?t built around keeping him alive and thriving. So much has been stacked in Joshua?s favor since even before his pro debut that it would help his legacy if he was forced to show the moxie of an underdog or, at least, a fighter NOT with everything stacked in his favor.
From a business perspective, though, Joshua has every right to call all the shots and stage his fights anywhere he likes. With the ability to fill soccer stadiums and generate crazy pay-per-view buys at home, Joshua brings tons of cash to the table and, therefore, gets to reap all the benefits that come with being the A-side of every matchup.
But it WOULD be nice to see business and sport get neatly tied in one?and Anthony Joshua would be the perfect person to do this.
There?s plenty of personal pride and nationalism involved in the 3-belt champ insisting that all challengers come to him, but an Anthony Joshua World Tour would be immense. Leaving home would not only add depth and credibility to his reign, but it would also work to beef up the business side of things?creating a bigger worldwide market for himself and making consistent nine-figure paydays a reality.
Taking on WBC champ Deontay Wilder in the United States could open the door to the US market (provided Wilder gets by Tyson Fury this December 1). It would be a bit of a gamble on Team Joshua?s part and it would mean the loss of a big UK payday for the unification bout, but the payoff could be tremendous as the American market, when it bleeds over into the mainstream, can realistically deliver Floyd Mayweather-type money.
But if Joshua is fine with the money he?s getting now and happy to demonstrate to the world that he?s the bossman by insisting all comers come to him, that?s his prerogative. Let him wave the Union Jack and rally his people into a frenzy. The world will just have to go at things old school style by trying to take away his belts and star privilege directly via combat.
