British boxing Heavyweight Anthony Joshua (7-0) returns to the ring on September 13th to face Konstantin Airich at the Manchester Arena. Joshua was originally scheduled to fight Yaroslav Zavorotoni on August 30th, but that planned event was cancelled. Joshua, the 2012 Olympic gold medalist who has run his record to 7-0 as a professional, was a massive (-10,000) favorite for that original fight, and Airich will likely get a similar (+3000) return.
Really, this match is just another ‘W’ for Joshua, as at 24 years old he is attempting to fast track his path to the top of the lightly populated Heavyweight division. He made is professional debut in October of last year, and he has racked up seven victories, all in less that 2 rounds as a professional. Airich is a slightly tougher customer than his usual fair, but Joshua did earn a stoppage over the long in the tooth Matt Skelton (47 years old, 28-8 overall record). For his next outing, Joshua is already booked to face the Prizefighter Tournament winner Michael Sprott on October 11th, but Sprott represents the same thing as Skelton and Airich, and that is experienced foes that do not have the physical tools to match up with Joshua.
Joshua needs ring time, so it will be interesting to see what the over/under is on this fight. As stated, Joshua has never gone more than 2 rounds, but this is his first 8 rounder, and Airich will be considered to have done his job if he can extend Joshua and force the Olympian to extend himself. If he wins, everyone is going to wish they had thrown a thousand dollars at it!
Joshua is wort hwatching as a prospect in the Heavyweight division. The boxing world awaits new blood and competitino in the weight class that has long been dominaited by the extremely stale Wladimir Klitschko. And beating big Wlad, or at least being the man after him is what Anthony Joshua and people have in mind.
The rest of the card is packed as well, with a world title fight in the bantamweight division between Scott Quigg and Stephane Jamoye on the card as well as several British and regional title fights. The card packs 10 fights overall.
