The heavyweight world champion and Olympic gold medallist talks Mayweather vs. McGregor and a potential bout against a Mixed Martial Artist
Having beaten former dominant world champion Wladimir Klitschko in London in April, the Englishman has stated his intentions to take over the division. In an interview with Independent.co.uk ahead of the Mayweather vs. McGregor bout this weekend, Joshua confirmed that he is open to the idea of facing an MMA fighter inside the ring or the octagon:
“I like fighting, I’d do whatever,” he said. “I’d probably get beaten. The only thing that they can’t do is submissions, but they can kick, elbow, bite – whatever they want. Just no submissions. I can’t beat a guy (via submission). That takes a lot of time to learn the skills and submissions, which I don’t have the time for, but when it comes to pure aggression and fighting rules, I can definitely fight, so I don’t mind that.
“It wouldn’t be a problem. If you look at most boxers who’ve crossed over to MMA, they get beaten on the ground. James Toney, Roy Jones, they were phenomenal boxers but they just couldn’t compete in the cage because of the ‘ground and pound’ game. I’ve been away with the family and need to get back to reality. Sitting on the beach getting my toes rubbed, that’s not the life of an athlete.”
Conor McGregor will square off against Floyd Mayweather in his first professional boxing bout this weekend. As long as the UFC lightweight champion can “give a good account of himself”, Joshua feels the fight will be a success as a spectacle:
“He’s coming out of his field and going into Mayweather’s domain. Even though he’s an excellent fighter in UFC, he’s not an excellent boxer. Him crossing over is going to be a real, big challenge. He could give a good account of himself; I think Mayweather will win but as long as he gives a good account of himself, it’ll work really well for him.
“I don’t think Mayweather’s done it for the money, I don’t think he needs the money: he’s done well from boxing. Conor was calling him out and people were saying they wanted to see the fight. The fans dictate the fight: if they want to see it, they get it. You can’t fight with a pay cheque, you can only fight with heart: that’s the only thing that gets you through tough times.”
