Anthony Joshua can be the lord of the ring and lift all four belts, writes Dan Jones

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Dan Jones7 December 2016

Christmas is a time for giving. But it would be generous to a fault if Anthony Joshua were to hand his IBF heavyweight belt to Eric Molina on Saturday night. They call Molina ‘Drummer Boy’. But the only pa-rum-pum-pum-pum we are likely to hear at the Manchester Arena this weekend is Joshua’s fists beating a festive thud against the American’s body.

This has been a long, strange, damaging year for heavyweight boxing, marked by the sorry collapse of the world champion Tyson Fury into a nihilistic, depressive funk. The paying public deserve to hope for better things in 2017.

Looking back, Fury’s capture of the titles from Wladimir Klitschko last autumn was both the worst and the best thing that could have happened to the big boys’ division. On the one hand the sport has become yoked to a man unable to cope with its demands and, as Fury has suffered, so has boxing. Yet, with Fury now in temporary but indefinite retirement, a sort of creative chaos reigns among the heavyweights.

The four main belts are scattered with the winds. Joshua holds the IBF belt, Deontay Wilder the WBC. The WBO and WBA belts are empty, seeking a holder. Sanctioning being as it is, by the middle of 2017 we could end up with four different men claiming to be the world champion. Yet, there is also the potential for someone to rise up and take the lot of them. Joshua is the prime candidate. His first job is sorting out Molina. It is no insult either to Joshua or to Molina to say they make an unusual couple. Both are reflective, with a realistic view of the world. In joint interviews, they seem to agree that Joshua is much better. Yes, Molina has fought Wilder and Chris Arreola but he lost to both — and beating Tomasz Adamek in his last fight doesn’t count, because Adamek was 38.

So Molina’s best asset is his experience and his best hope is a lucky shot. But there is enough heart and scrap in the Texan to make him a dangerous opponent. He should give Joshua at least as much resistance as did Dillian Whyte, who fights Dereck Chisora on a terrific undercard — and somewhat more than Joshua’s previous Americans. Between them, Dominic Breazeale, Charles Martin, Kevin Johnson and Jason Gavern completed only 10 rounds. It would be credit to Molina if he were to double that tally. And, of course, a clean punch on the chin is a punch on the chin.

All this being said, the thing I find most exciting about Joshua’s encounter with Molina is the possibility that it foreshadows better things for 2017. We only need to look about 10 yards from the canvas to see that. Sky Sports have hired both David Haye and Klitschko for ringside analysis duty and their presence should remind us that there are plenty of good nights there to be made. Haye must be delighted every time Sky call: last time he was on duty, for Tony Bellew’s cruiserweight win over BJ Flores, Bellew tried to fight Haye as well. The result? A nice all-British earner next March at the O2.

Joshua vs Molina

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The winner would be a lucrative opponent in 2017 for Joshua. And, of course, the fight everyone wants to see is Joshua v Klitschko. Haye-Klitschko II is no longer unimaginable. And the winner of Chisora-Whyte will be available for business. When Wilder gets fit, things look really quite exciting.

So although the spectre of Fury haunts heavyweight boxing like a 19-st Jacob Marley, the division undoubtedly has a future. Much of that future is on show in Manchester this Saturday. Happy Christmas, as they say.

Photo: Getty Images
Getty Images

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