Anthony Joshua, is he missing a trick by not going pro?

Not an awfully high on the agenda debate but I was wondering what everyone's opinion was On Joshua's apparent reluctance to move on from the amateur game? At the age of 23, with a somewhat weak division I would believe it would be a great time for Joshua to capitalise on entering the pro game given the K bro's will most likely not be around in 4-5 years when Joshua arguably should reach his peak.

With a realtively strong British heavyweight scene (eg Fury, Price, Haye & Chisora) there are fights out there that Joshua could most definatly cash in on. I'm not sure what he has to gain from staying in the amateurs given he has already won the pinnacle of the sport in Olympic Gold.

If I was advising him, I certaintly would be telling him to cash in whilst he can. Thoughts?

I agree, the sooner he turns pro the better.

He doesn't appear to be anything special but he's big, strong, reasonably powerful with a good selection of shots so could do quite well once the brothers retire.

i completely disagree, he was lucky twice to win gold, and fury, price, haye, perez and chisora would all beat him. id stick to the amatuers, get 4 years experience against good opposition, mature a little and fight often. going pro his first 9-10 fights will be against lesser opponents and spread over 2 years wont do him no favours.

the division will be a lot different (id assume) in 4 years and new fights will be there 32-33 seems to be the new "prime" for heavys so he is only a baby really.

Of course Haye, Price et al would beat him. The kid hasn't turned pro yet. There are about 100 boxers who would beat him. I don't see what he can learn as an amateur that he can't learn as a pro. Turn pro now, get better quality sparring and training. In 4 years he will be earning very good money and be knocking at the door of a belt holder.

Got to agree with Az, it's not as if he'd be thrown in with the likes of Price or Fury for a while, the amateurs offers nothing to those wishing to turn pro any more.

the op suggested he could take those fights not me, im just saying that would be suicide. id say the amatuer training programmes are almost as good as the pros, he could still spa who he wants as well.

plus fighting 3-4 journey men who come to spoil, survive and take the defeat in a year would be worse than a year fighting other hungry young amatuers, much more frequently.

A year of fighting journeyman is something he can't escape, whether it's now or in 4 years time it's going to happen, all he's doing his stunting his progression by staying amateur. If we look at the cubans for instance, Gamboa, Rigondeaux and Lara should all be a lot further on in there development than they are but they didn't turn pro soon enough. Casamayor could have been a damm good professional but he was old as soon as he hit world level.

eddyfightfan wrote:the op suggested he could take those fights not me, im just saying that would be suicide. id say the amatuer training programmes are almost as good as the pros, he could still spa who he wants as well.

plus fighting 3-4 journey men who come to spoil, survive and take the defeat in a year would be worse than a year fighting other hungry young amatuers, much more frequently.

OK, another 4 years in the amateur game. Then when he turns pro, what? Throw him at the deep end straight away? Or feed him journeymen as he would have been fed had he turned pro immediately.

Imperial Ghosty wrote:Got to agree with Az, it's not as if he'd be thrown in with the likes of Price or Fury for a while, the amateurs offers nothing to those wishing to turn pro any more.

Disagree. The WSB offers competitive bouts without headguards or vests. Gives anyone participating an opportunity to test yourself against top quality opposition but without the risk of losing your '0'. These fights offer a better learning curve, in my opinion, than fighting journeymen who will be KO'd in the first. AIBA are trying to bridge the gap between the two codes so it may be a prudent move to take advantage of the benefits of being an amateur.

As long as he doesn't lose his killer instinct he'll be fine. I love how he wants to take peeps head off in the ring. I think two more years to hone some skills and then pro. I wouldn't do another Olympics if i was him.

Also, Rob Mac is a key figure and I would love to see Joshua go pro with Rob in his corner. He only started boxing at 18, so still has a lot to learn. Great talent though.

6oldenbhoy wrote:

Imperial Ghosty wrote:Got to agree with Az, it's not as if he'd be thrown in with the likes of Price or Fury for a while, the amateurs offers nothing to those wishing to turn pro any more.

Disagree. The WSB offers competitive bouts without headguards or vests. Gives anyone participating an opportunity to test yourself against top quality opposition but without the risk of losing your '0'. These fights offer a better learning curve, in my opinion, than fighting journeymen who will be KO'd in the first. AIBA are trying to bridge the gap between the two codes so it may be a prudent move to take advantage of the benefits of being an amateur.

Semi pro stuff.

Don't think any sort of amateur fights are going to do him as much good as getting a good headstart in the pro game myself.

Five/seven round fights against better opposition. Serve his apprenticeship there without the risk. He will still be Olympic Gold medallist, so as long as he goes pro within the next four years then he won't lose too much marketability.

i agree with Ghosty but in this instance mainly - The head guards are going but thye amatuers are going to have to get used to this new form before the quality increases towards a higher level. For Joshua - It might be more prudent to match him against the pros (If he has dreams of going pro later on) rather than the amatuers.

By this instance - I actualy meant for now. I expect the Amatuer game to substantially pick up now that they can land meaningful punches

Deontay Wilder had a similar background in terms of getting into boxing late. Four years later and he's still serving his apprenticeship. Joshua has a lot to learn, the question is would he learn it against better against limited Journeymen or quality amateurs who aren't used to boxing without the headguard?

Yea I have to agree with the majority here that there doesn't really seem to be any benefit of staying amateur for another 4 years so he won't turn pro untill 27

As long as he rains active he will benefit from pro fights. He won gold but was lucky to even be in the final and was found wanting sometimes defensively but as he had his headgear he didn't look too bothered about defence

Get him in with a good couple of journeymen, let him work on his defence and find out what it's like to be hit without a headgear. Eventually he will be getting into 6/8 rounders which will help his stamina and get him used to the pace of a pro fight unlike the short amateur fights.

Maybe a year or 2 as an amateur for the world championships etc but can't make a case for 4 years. If he turns pro now, in 2-3 years he will be at a good level and the likes of Chisora/Fury/Price/Perez will still be around

there is no benefit in staying where he is. If he has ambitions to turn pro then the sooner he does it the better.

Regardless of it he was fortunate to win gold or not he was still highly competitive and showed talent.

being a good amateur does mean that you have good technical ability, but its still a different game. He is young and if he goes pro now then he is at a great age to learn the pro game more.

he has one gold, the height of the amateur game so anything less may be seen as a Fail ..

He does not have to jump in with Haye of Fury right away he can still take his time to develop and learn before he takes on bigger challenges.

History tells us the quicker you turn pro the better your chances are.

My point is let him test the waters in the WSB. If he goes pro now he will be fighting four rounders against limited journeymen, with all due respect. The WSB allows him to fight better quality opposition in a format that mimics the Pro's. He won't lose the '0' and if he gets violently knocked out, then who cares, as no-one has heard of the format so they won't hold that against him. What did David Price learn fighting Audley Harrison? Are we discovering new facets to Deontay Wilder's game? It basically offers him a free go at the Pro's, whilst still getting great sparring and facilities with the GB squad.

If he gets violently knocked out, then his signing on fee when he turns pro will be lowered. He's on top of the game now. Turn pro, make shed loads of money and fight when the pressure is on. Not this WSB rubbish where guys still fight like amateurs. Joshua's style is suited to the pro game where his heavy hands and solid jab counts for something as opposed to the pitter patter slaps in the semi pro/amateur game.

This is an unusual case. But I really do believe if a genuine offer comes Anthony should not look to turn it down. Matchroom could do with a heavyweight in their stable, given they missed out on Price, and 10 - 15 fights down the line he could very much be mixing it in with the likes of Perez & Chisora.

.... He could probably take out Harrison and Rogan out right now, might I add.

I'd like to see Joshua carry on for a world title first. He's still very raw right now. He has come a long way in a short time frame. Lets not rush him just yet

I think has got great potential, I reckon a year fighting in WSB would do him the world of good. And if he stayed undefeated, he could be moved on slightly quicker then most.

He is one hell of a athlete. I think he ran the 100m in 11.6 seconds in the wet on that Superstars programme. Probs would be under 11 seconds in the right conditions.