He has personality, resilience and mental toughness to respond
Friday 30 January 2015 11:38, UK
Anthony Joshua pulled out of this weekend's Fight Night with a back injury and Glenn McCrory says this setback will tell us more about the heavyweight's character
In life, in boxing and in everything else, nothing is ever straightforward.
Anthony Joshua has got all the tools, he ticks every box with flying colours. He looks like he’s got everything going for him - so I wonder if this turns out to be an Achilles heel. Could this be something serious?
This is his first big test - nobody in the ring has managed to, although that’s because he’s been matched with physically lesser guys.
He is an Olympic Games gold medallist and he got the roll of the dice there, too; he won two very close decisions. It was in London, everything was going good, he made his pro debut and everything has fallen into place. Boxing is not like that, and life is most certainly not like that. This injury is something that’s been thrown at him, and that must test him.
He’ll want to be training all the time and it will frustrate him if he can’t train well. He’ll need to rest because if he tries to push too hard and train too early, he could end up making a mess and really injuring himself.
Anthony's a very rounded individual whose feet are very much on the floor. People tell him ‘you’re going to be the greatest’ and he could believe that all he’s got to do is turn up, but he doesn’t get carried away with the whole business. He has the personality, resilience and mental toughness to deal with this but we’ll see.
Listen to your body
He’s a big, big man and you know he’s training very hard, very diligently, to be the best in the world. But your body can only take so much, so a bone problem in the back is not a great sign, although he’s still young and doesn’t need an operation.
I remember when Larry Holmes came over to Britain, he said Joshua should fight regularly and I think Eddie Hearn listened to that. He’s got him out there as often as he could
Everything has fallen into place. Boxing is not like that, and life is most certainly not like that. This injury is something that’s been thrown at him that must test him.
But with a man as big as Anthony, rest is important. When you’re a man who’s lugging around 17-and-a-half stone, going running and pounding the roads as well as training and sparring, your body is taking a jarring. It’s important to get a good rest.
The injury might turn out to be nothing but it’s just enough to warn him. When I was growing up, experienced people told me to listen to my body. Coaches don’t know what’s going on with your body so he’s really got to listen to it and understand what’s going on. This is a warning to everybody: take it steady.
AJ's April return in Newcastle
The people of the North East will see him after his longest break, if he fights in Newcastle in April as scheduled. He’ll show what he can do, and it would be nice to see a challenging opponent. Kevin Johnson is decent and knows his way around the ring. That’s great for the North East. We’ve had Joe Calzaghe and Ricky Hatton up here but not really in testing fights.
The Newcastle fans love Joshua. We saw the great reaction he got in Scotland and it’ll be crazy here, too. They’ll really get behind him. He’s the kind of fighter they like - he’s working-class like Frank Bruno, he’ll sign autographs and mingle with fans. He’s a people’s phampion.
