ANTHONY JOSHUA wants to put in a performance that sends out a message against Eric Molina on Saturday (December 10) at the Manchester Arena.
“I’m not fighting [Wladimir] Klitschko. He’s going to be there on Saturday, as is [David] Haye, but they’re not in front of me. My career, my discipline and my consistency, that’s the package that we’ve been sending out to the rivals and that speaks louder than any performance on Saturday. I want to win, I want to look good and I want to entertain – but the most important thing for me is going in there and doing the job,” Joshua said. “I’m not learning in the shadows, I’m under the bright lights on Box Office in the UK and on Showtime in the U.S. I have to perform every time that I box. There’s so many wolves in the pack that want to come and destroy what I’ve built.
“We’re close to getting some huge fights. If I get through Saturday then I fight Klitschko; it doesn’t get much bigger, so the division is moving forward. People have just got to be patient and enjoy the ride.”
Molina of course stands in the way of that dream. Joshua insists he respects the Texan. “He is a hurdle I have to overcome. It’s not about them, it’s about me. I won’t disrespect Eric, but I don’t play games, I come to dominate. I don’t care how long the fight with Molina goes; one or 12 rounds, I just need to dismantle my opponent,” Joshua said. “Eric is coming here to win and he’s got a goal in his sights and dreams to fulfill. I want to shatter his dreams and keep that title. He gave [Deontay] Wilder a real test, rocked him, and boxed through the fight with an injury. So he’s got ability, power and heart… Someone that fights with their heart on their sleeve, that’s why we’re here now. It’ll be a comparison [with Wilder] in the back of my mind but that doesn’t make me a better fighter than him or vice versa if I do better or worse than Deontay,” he added. “Eric has only lost to the best. He’s looked at as an underdog because a lot of it is about hype. This is his chance to announce himself. He might say he can beat me, but we won’t know until the night if he can pull it off.
“A man that gets up after being knocked down has my full respect and he has shown he has massive heart. His mentality is that he’s got nothing to lose, and that makes him dangerous. There’s been upsets in the past. But that’s not happening at this stage of my career.”
