Charles Martin – Anthony Joshua: The Buzz is ON! Fight Sells Out in 90 Seconds
By Andrew “Drew The Picture” Hames
Once boxing’s glamour division, in terms of competitive parity , one might argue that recent years have shown the Heavyweight division to be at its lightest, ironically. Perhaps even lighter has been its appeal with fight fans abroad, particularly in terms of replicating the major attractions that once were Sullivan-Corbett, Louis-Baer, Patterson-Liston, Holmes-Cooney, Ali-Anybody, Tyson-Ditto, etc. Perhaps we’re still relatively in a cemetery of 200-pound corpses at the moment in comparison to those times, but if light has peaked its head out of the tunnel of potential, it has perhaps shown itself as bright as it’s been in many a power outage just yesterday, when the upcoming Heavyweight title fight was announced between 2011 Olympic Silver Medalist and 2012 Olympic Gold Medalist, UK standout Anthony Joshua and current unbeaten and newly crowned IBF Champion “Prince Charles” Martin, a fight so highly anticipated by boxing’s desperation for signs of life on the long forsaken planet of Heavyweights that the bout reportedly sold out the legendary 02 Arena London within 90 seconds of going into full orbit…
Yes, the day will be April 9, and it appears that all the king’s horses, all the king’s men, and perhaps even Humpty Dumpty himself will be scattered all about the arena in attendance. Indeed, the excitement level of a Heavyweight match-up has at last seemed to have reached the size of its participants….
Filling out a 20,000-seat arena within a time period that could feasibly cook a bowl and a half of Minute Rice requires significant interest in either one or both combatants headlining the main event, and with respect to the reigning Heavyweight Champion, it’s somewhat of an obvious paradox that “Prince Charles” won’t be the hometown favorite in this London, England fight. That reservation will instead go to the 15-0 Joshua, who’s uninterrupted early KO streak only adds to the prestige of his first title, shot, one his supporters apparently had their euros waiting for. Way to go on the fight promotion to the UK boxing scene as well. Joshua has been a well kept secret in the sport ever since reportedly turning down offers from major promotional companies to turn pro after his Silver Medal trials when he represented Great Britain in the 2011 Games, but chose instead to take an additional amateur year to better prepare himself for the professional ranks, a character-telling gamble that paid off with him striking gold in 2012. Sparring with the likes of Vladimir Klitschko, David Haye, etc, and having been mentored into the pro game by Great Britain’s Hall Of Fame Heavyweight Lennox Lewis, the expectation among his loyalists is that this title shot will serve as a mere formality in his official coronation. His previous dominant KO victory over amateur rival Dillian Whyte in his first relative step up in competition only serves to further this belief that the 6’5 Joshua will soon tower over the landscape of the Heavyweight Division, and preserve the powers of the crowns and thrones for Britain and the UK…
“Prince Charles” Martin carries a separate duty into the ring with him on this April 9, showdown, which is validation, which would justifiably be earned were he to be successful and impressive in his bold venture into a territory that few American fighters in recent years have been bold enough to travel, much less in their very first title defense, and against an unbeaten fighter with all KO victories and the makings of a rising star. Possessing a 23-0-1 record himself, with 21 of those victories coming by way of KO, Martin doesn’t seem to be nearly at a shortage of confidence, even boldly predicting a KO victory. For his valiance, he should receive considerable credit regardless of the fight’s outcome. His title-winning performance did come in KO to a respected European fighter in Vyacheslav Glazkov, but one that also ended in considerable controversy, with Glaskov appearing to have been KO’d more by a freakish foot injury than an actual Martin punch, and Martin didn’t exactly endear himself to the fight fans in the post-fight interview, bragging that the fear of his punching power was more the result of Glazkov’s inability to continue, at least before seeing the instant replay of the foot injury, all to his credit. Even more interesting is the fact that the 6’5 southpaw puncher Martin matches up quite comparably to Joshua in terms of size, and will be eager to show that he could match up in terms of skill as well…
A victory for either could result in any range of opportunities, from a potential title unification showdown with the winner of the proposed rematch between Tyson Fury and Vladimir Klitschko, to a showdown with unbeaten American Heavyweight KO artist and champion Deontay Wilder, or, especially in Joshua’s case, even a lucrative event with rising, unbeaten New Zealand Heavyweight champion Joseph Parker, who’s amassed quite a fan base for himself thus far in his 18-0 career. Let’s just appreciate that the “pounds” in this fight will likely be three-dimensional, and refer to the revenue, the impact of hard, flying leather and the sport’s heaviest weight class for once in a long overdue drought.
Signing off until next time….
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