OUR BOYS TOP THE HEAVYWEIGHT HIT PARADE - THE FRANK WARREN COLUMN
By Frank Warren
THE LANDSCAPE DIDN’T noticeably shift by much following a second sitting of heavyweight shenanigans at the o2 Arena on Saturday.
Our show the previous weekend was very much about progression, with big steps forward taken by both Daniel Dubois and Joe Joyce, with Daniel incredibly winning a sixth title belt in just 12 fights as a professional.
Winning the British belt against home rival Nathan Gorman – who still has a very big future in front of him – told us where Daniel is currently at. The fact is he could, potentially, take on all-comers right now, but time is on his side and we are going to give him the experience he needs while continually stepping him up.
His pathway to stardom is very clear and more and more fans will join him on his journey now his momentum is building so significantly. Remember, we started Daniel from scratch – after just seven senior amateur fights – without the Olympic gold medal exploits achieved by Anthony Joshua in front of a captivated BBC audience at the London Olympics, everyone knew AJ when he turned pro.
You don’t require a whole lot of building when the nation already knows your name.
Daniel is capturing the imagination via his explosive performances inside the ring, where it really matters and, as he has already demonstrated, he won’t be found wanting the moment someone hits him back.
Joe Joyce’s career trajectory is also on a very steep upward curve and the Juggernaut is aiming for the top in double-quick time.
Watching Dillian Whyte on Saturday suffer a knockdown on his way to a decision victory over Oscar Rivas put Joe’s win over Bryant Jennings the previous week into some perspective.
Rivas, in his last fight, was getting comprehensively schooled by Jennings before the American got caught in the last knockings of the final round and ended up getting stopped.
That Joe then took on and beat Jennings in just his tenth fight speaks volumes for the man and the confidence he has in himself. The gold medal winning Joshua was fighting Michael Sprott in his tenth fight, with the British title coming after 15. Whyte, who, to be fair had little amateur experience, was facing an unknown Croatian at the Camden Centre to reach double figures.
So we learned that Whyte, after 600-odd days ranked No.1, is now mandatory for the WBC title and will probably have to wait another year for his shot. Better late than never eh, but it doesn’t really alter the heavyweight picture because a year is a long time in boxing.
As for the other two top of the bill fights, they don’t really have any impact on the top of the shop at all. Dereck Chisora can always pull a win out of the bag when the mood takes him, just not always when it matters.
What does it all mean though? Are they ripening him up for a world title shot? Not very likely. It looks like he will just carrying on being the heavyweight fodder to bolster up another forthcoming pay-per-view with a view to putting Joseph Parker back in the mix.
The recycling continued with David Price, who did look good in seeing off the limited challenge of Dave Allen. What this leads to I really don’t know, but would Chisora or Price entertain getting it on with either Daniel or Joe? I doubt it.
Recycling names from the past is all good fun and sometimes entertaining, but it doesn’t amount to much in the grand scheme of things and tends to come with a 20 quid price tag.
The intention with our heavyweights – and all our fighters, for that matter – is to increase their experience step by step and have them climb the rankings at the same time. That way, every fight has a meaning and a logic behind it, that boxing fans see.
Each to their own, of course, but you will see Daniel, Joe and Nathan stand the test of time along with whatever tests are put in front of them. And when they do hit No.1 there will be a world title shot to go with it.
