Boxing: Anthony Joshua has key to future riches in his fast hands

 

London's Olympics have been a knockout, but there's no doubt who will be Britain's biggest hit of the Games. If Anthony Joshua, one of the two British boxers in this afternoon's finals, wins the super-heavyweight title, he will be within striking distance of a gold mine.

Untold riches await the 22-year-old Londoner if he dispatches the reigning Olympic champion, Roberto Cammarelle, as adroitly as he did in the quarter-finals of last year's World Championships. Promoters will be knocking on his Finchley door as well as that down in Wales of Fred Evans, at 21 the youngest member of Britain's most successful Olympic boxing squad, should the welterweight win his final against Kazakhstan's No 2 seed, Serik Sapiyev. But like the weights, Evans's cheques would be somewhat smaller.

Only two Britons, Audley Harrison (Sydney 2000) and Lennox Lewis (Seoul 1988) have won the super-heavyweight crown – though Lewis was representing Canada at the time. Both rate Joshua highly, as does David Price, who took the bronze medal in Beijing when he was stopped in the semi-finals by the opponent Joshua faces today, the 32-year-old Italian carabiniere.

Price, now the British profes-sional champion, says: "He's young, good-looking and he can hit. I think he can win the gold." If he does, Joshua can expect at least a 20-fold improvement on the offer of £50,000 he received to turn pro a year ago. I believe he definitely will, but he declines to commit himself, saying: "Maybe I'll go for the world amateur championship again. I didn't take up the sport to earn money, I did it to win medals."

He has a great chance of repeating his victory over Cam-marelle, who is more ponderous than when they last fought but can be wily, as he showed in the semi-finals when edging the Azerbaijani Magomedrasul Medzhisov, the top seed, who got a suspiciously hometown decision over Joshua in the World Championships final.

Joshua is the British-born son of Nigerian parents who, as a kid, was a talented footballer, and could run 11 seconds for the 100 metres when he was 15. His fleet-footedness helps make him special, a more nimble, less robotic version of Frank Bruno.

In boxing terms he is still a baby, but at 6ft 6in and nearly 17st he has vital commodities for greatness – a good chin and a decent punch.

However he could have thrown it all away early last year when he was arrested for a drugs offence and suspended from the British squad. He received a 12-month community order and 100 hours' unpaid work. "That arrest changed a lot," he said. "It forced me to grow up and respect my responsibilities."

His bout will be the final sporting event of the Olympics. Before then Evans, the European champion but the surprise package of the team, may well have secured gold himself. Having narrowly outscored the Ukrainian world No 1 in the semi-finals, he has the confidence and the clout to clinch the crown.

The boxing tournament has been among the most impressive of the Games events, due in no small measure to Terry Edwards, the GB coach in Beijing who is in charge of the sports technical operation here, after turning down an approach to coach the US men. In view of their abysmal performance, medal-less for the first time in their history, they clearly could have done with him.

Rob McCracken, the coach who succeeded him, is barred from the corner under AIBA rules because of his association with professional boxers, including Carl Froch. Yet the international governing body are professionalising the only sport in the Olympics which has the prefix "amateur". From the next Games in Rio, headguards and probably vests will be discarded and a pro-style 10-point scoring system introduced.

Prize money is available on the World Series circuit but it will be chicken feed compared with the millions that await Joshua if he becomes boxing's new golden boy today. But Big Josh needs to splosh to get the dosh.

Independent Comment
blog comments powered by Disqus
Caption competition
Caption competition
News in pictures
World news in pictures
Sport blogs

iBet: Back Spain to shut out Tahiti

The spread betting firms are very slow about pricing up this game and you can understand why. All th...

by Gareth Purnell

iBet: Look To The Lady In The Prince Of Wales

The Prince of Wales Stakes today is regarded by many as the No1 race of the Royal Ascot meeting and ...

by Gareth Purnell

iBet: Favourites have a good record in the Coventry stakes

Today’s St James Palace looks a cracker and there has been sustained money for Dawn Approach since t...

by Gareth Purnell

       
 

Day In a Page

Babies behind bars: A Palestinian fertility doctor has become an unlikely hero by helping women conceive – even though their husbands are in jail

Babies behind bars

A Palestinian fertility doctor has become an unlikely hero by helping women conceive – even though their husbands are in jail
Sonic youth: The high-pitched sound alarm for under 25s

Sonic youth: The high-pitched sound alarm

Is Mosquito, the alarm only under-25s can hear, a blessing or a bane?
The art of living in small spaces: Architects are learning how to make less, more

The art of living in small spaces

Space in cities at a premium so architects are learning how to make less, more...
Special report: The story of Sir Mervyn King's reign at the Bank

The story of Sir Mervyn King's reign at the Bank

After four 'nice' years as Governor of Bank of England, things turned decisively nasty
Zombie nation: Our enduring fascination with a world full of death and destruction

Zombie nation: Our fascination with death and destruction

A new season of shows on Radio 4 is inspired by dark tales of future dystopias. Meanwhile, zombies are marauding in the multiplexes...
Martin Stephen: 'Ofsted says comprehensives are failing the most able but teaching bright children isn't rocket science'

'Teaching bright children isn't rocket science'

It doesn't take a selective system to nurture the best minds, says a former head of St Paul's boys' school.
The retail empires strike back: Can new technology lure us back to the high street?

Can technology lure us back to the high street?

The high street has been bruised and battered by online firms but in-store technology is helping to enliven the retail experience...
The 10 Best new smartphones

The 10 Best new smartphones

Photos, films, music, apps and browsing - the latest mobiles can do it all
Jenson Button: Downbeat driver cannot wait to put season behind him

Jenson Button: Downbeat driver cannot wait to put season behind him

McLaren man admits 'failed gamble' with car has left him pinning hopes on 2014 campaign
James Lawton: Firmer fist will be required to win Champions Trophy final battle with stouter foe

James Lawton

Firmer fist will be required to win Champions Trophy final battle with stouter foe
'To farm I have to rape the countryside. It’s got to be wrong': The true effect of the badger cull

The true effect of the badger cull

'To farm I have to rape the countryside. It’s got to be wrong'
Theatre review: Daniel Radcliffe gives an admirably honest performance in Michael Grandage's The Cripple of Inishmaan

First night: The Cripple of Inishmaan

Daniel Radcliffe gives an admirably honest performance in Michael Grandage's comedy
Girls Guides drop religious reference but pledge to self and the Queen

Guides drop religious reference but pledge to self and the Queen

After 103 years, organisation changes oath to welcome 'all girls, of all faiths, and none'
Steve Tongue: Joe Kinnear was one of the boys and a breath of fresh air... 21 years ago

Steve Tongue

Joe Kinnear was one of the boys and a breath of fresh air... 21 years ago
Chris Froome: Free from 'pain in neck' after Bradley Wiggins' exit

Chris Froome: Free from 'pain in neck' after Wiggins' exit

Sky's lead rider says he is in fantastic form for the Tour and happy pecking order debate is over