Anthony Joshua is not ready to treat boxing’s world titles like old souvenirs. With Dana White’s Zuffa Boxing making aggressive moves in the sport, the former two-time unified heavyweight champion said the appeal of becoming a recognized world champion still carries weight.
“Now we have people like Terence Crawford and Shakur Stevenson that are complaining about sanctioning fees,” Joshua said. “They’re saying, ‘We don’t need the belts anymore’ because of the other promotional company that’s now emerged in America [Zuffa] which are trying to change the landscape of boxing.”
Anthony Joshua Says Boxing’s Historic Belts Still “Stand Strong” as Zuffa Changes the Conversation
Zuffa Boxing has moved fast since its launch, building a roster that includes Jai Opetaia, Conor Benn, Callum Walsh, Efe Ajagba and Jose “Rayo” Valenzuela. It later added IBF junior-welterweight champion Richardson Hitchins and super-middleweight contender Edgar Berlanga to multi-fight agreements.
Benn’s deal made the loudest early noise. Reports placed his one-fight agreement in the eight-figure range, with one figure putting it at $15 million, even though full contractual details have not been released. Joshua sees that spending as a factor in why some fighters are reconsidering the value of traditional championship belts.
“People are now changing their tone because carrots are being dangled in front of them,” Joshua said. “But for me, personally, I think the heritage, the history of the sport still stands strong in my heart.”
Joshua built his career around the established championship route. He won the IBF heavyweight title by stopping Charles Martin in 2016, then added the WBA and IBO belts against Wladimir Klitschko before completing a first unification with the WBO title against Joseph Parker.
His view is simple that a belt from the WBA, WBC, IBF or WBO does more than add hardware to a photo shoot. It places a fighter in a lineage that includes the sport’s past champions, creates a recognized target for opponents and gives fans a familiar standard to follow.
“You can’t beat being a world champion in my opinion,” Joshua said.
That does not mean he is ignoring the problems fighters raise. Sanctioning bodies charge fees for title bouts, and those payments have become a regular source of frustration for high-profile champions. Crawford and Stevenson have both questioned whether the fees are worth it when a fighter’s name, demand and earning power can be bigger than the belt itself.
Still, Joshua’s position is that the answer is not to discard the titles altogether. He believes their history still separates a genuine world champion from a promotional creation.
Joshua returns on Saturday, July 25, when he faces Albania’s Kristian Prenga in a heavyweight main event at Jeddah Superdome in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. It is a non-title fight and a calculated return for the two-time unified heavyweight champion, who is expected to use a win to set up a proposed Tyson Fury showdown later this year.
Prenga enters on a 16-fight winning streak but has not faced opposition on Joshua’s level, making the bout a chance for AJ to shake off rust, deliver a statement and avoid the sort of upset that could derail one of British boxing’s biggest possible fights.
Joshua is set to fight this weekend, with the heavyweight division watching closely as he looks to stay in position for another major assignment. A meeting with Tyson Fury later this year remains the obvious prize if both men come through their next moves.
Zuffa Boxing can offer major checks and a new route to stardom. Joshua is saying boxing’s old route still has value, and that being called a world champion is not something he plans to trade away.
