Jamie McDonell succesfully defended his WBA bantamweight title for the fourth time with a ninth-round stoppage of Fernando Vargas, having consistently outworked the Mexican, who appeared to hurt his hand just before the conclusion which came when a combination forced Vargas’ corner to intervene.
Advertisement
Prior to becoming champion, not much was known about Martin: he had no outstanding amateur pedigree or standout wins on his professional record. He fought at a high pace and he remained devoted to the program. Martin, 29, won the vacant IBF title when Ukrainian Vyacheslav Glazkov injured a knee during their bout in January and is reportedly guaranteed to earn nearly £3.5 million ($4.9 million) for facing Joshua. He got past Martin (23-1-1, 21 KO) as easily as he has anyone else, from Hrvoje Kisicek to Dillian Whyte, and the hype train keeps rolling on.
Moments later, Joshua did the exact same thing in response to a sloppy jab from Martin, only this time the counter landed flush and dropped the Missouri native hard. I need to box explosively but be very slow and calculating.
Promoters Matchroom will also hope Saturday provides the first highlight of many in the professional career of Conor Benn, the 19-year-old son of popular former middleweight and super-middleweight world champion Nigel.
Joshua is now the first ever Briton to win both the super-heavyweight Olympic gold and a version of the world heavyweight title.
“They are going to be screaming for their guy”. The only weird styles that could clash in this is Martin being a southpaw, so head butts and stepping on feet always has to be part of the equation.
“I come to knock people out”, Joshua said. “When I first fought at Madison Square Garden, I went in there and performed as such”.
“We’ve just got two generals in the ring and the best army wins”.
The mutual respect that has existed between the fighters continued Thursday.
“If Tyson comes through his obligation and Anthony Joshua comes through Martin tomorrow, there’s no reason we can’t get that fight on next”. “It is a big deal because I look at it like when you go back in history, [George] Foreman fought [Muhammad] Ali”. Maybe, maybe not, but it’s still a great event. Then you have [Mike] Tyson fighting [Evander] Holyfield.
To put Joshua’s experience into context, British compatriot and possible future opponent Tyson Fury had 134 rounds in 24 contests under his belt before he got the chance to dethrone Wladimir Klitschko a year ago.
Will Charles Martin prove everyone wrong?
Advertisement
Mr Killian said the painting took him around two weeks and he added the backdrop of the London skyline in the final stages in a nod to the fight venue.
