The Nigerian-born British boxer, Anthony Joshua, won his bout on Saturday and later latched out at fans who disrespect him even in victory.
For the first time in three years, Joshua on Saturday at the O2 Arena recorded a knockout victory as he brushed aside Robert Helenius in the seventh round in brutal fashion.
Despite the victory, some fans are not giving Joshua his roses as they question the quality of opposition in Helenius.
This has not gone down well with Joshua who has called on all to let him be as he continues in his drive to regain his lost world titles while also thumping the quality in Helenius.
“People need to leave me alone, let me breathe a bit. Helenius, I told him, please come again, he’s got talent. He will cause a lot of people problems, credit to him, saving the show. I’ll see you again soon, hopefully, two more times this year, I need to stay busy.
“My back’s gone, I’m carrying this heavyweight division to the top,” Joshua said at the ringside after his victory.
No room for drug cheats
This is the second time in his career that two-time former heavyweight champion Joshua had to deal with a late replacement when his original opponent was pulled after testing positive for a banned substance.
Four years ago, Joshua was scheduled to face Jarrell Miller at New York’s Madison Square Garden.
Miller was pulled from the fight after testing positive for several banned substances.
He was replaced by Andy Ruiz, who pulled off a tremendous upset when he stopped Joshua in seven rounds.
Last night at the O2 Arena in London, Joshua found himself in a familiar position.
He was originally scheduled to face Dillian Whyte in a pay-per-view rematch.
However, the plan was disrupted when on 5 August, Whyte was officially pulled from the fight after testing positive for a banned substance in his random drug testing protocol with VADA.
Whyte was quickly replaced by Helenius but at a great cost as the bout was downgraded from the pay-per-view platform.
While he admits that it’s not ideal to face a late replacement on a week’s notice, Joshua would rather go in that direction than go forward with the original opponent.
“Well, I’d rather deal with this than deal with a drug cheat in the ring. You know, so, we invest our own funds into testing and working with great people, and I’m glad that people get found out because it’s a tough game already. It would be a nightmare to fight someone on roids or whatever it is. I don’t even know what they’re taking but it would be a nightmare,” Joshua told Boxing Social.
“Let’s eradicate it [PEDs] out of boxing if we can because there are a lot of up-and-coming fighters who are putting their life on the line and I would hate for one of them to have long-term life injuries. The anti-doping agencies, they do a great job. I’ve just been tested – urine, blood, etc…. clean sportsman, clean living,” the Nigerian-born British boxer concluded.
By Tunde Eludini
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