Anthony Joshua: ‘I want to shatter Eric Molina’s dreams and keep my belt’ – read his exclusive big fight diary

EXCLUSIVE
1/9
Anthony Joshua7 December 2016

We’re nice and settled in Manchester and last night my team got a good look at my opponent Eric Molina at the public workout.

Eric has set the tone as a man full of belief, coming here to win and with a goal in his sights and dreams to fulfil. That has been with me in my camp as I want to shatter his dreams and keep that title.

He gave Deontay Wilder a real test in June last year. He rocked him and boxed through the fight with an injury. So he’s got ability, power and heart — and watching it I thought, “that’s the type of guy that I want to be in with”.

He got a great win in Poland against Tomasz Adamek and he has learnt a lot in those two fights and is a better boxer and man for them.

Any man that gets up after being knocked down has my full respect and he has shown he has massive heart. His mentality is that he’s got nothing to lose — and that makes him dangerous.

There has been upsets in the past but that’s not happening at this stage of my career.

I need someone who takes it and gives back. I can’t fight guys who go over with the first punch, it’s no good for me.

He’s here to fight and I want someone to come and put it on me, try to hurt me.

In Pictures | Anthony Joshua's professional fights

1/26

Every fighter can take a shot in the first four rounds but it’s later when the mistakes start because you are tired — that’s when the punches hurt more and it gets serious.

Everyone is sharp in round one and two, they recover quicker and they’ve got more oxygen in their bodies. It’s the wear and tear as the rounds go on where even tough fighters start to tire and they can get knocked out.

On Saturday night, Molina is Wladimir Klitschko, he is David Haye and he is Wilder. Eric is a hurdle I have to overcome. It’s not about my opponent, it’s about me. If I ever get beat, it’s down to me, and then I have to build myself up and come again.

I won’t disrespect Eric but I don’t play games — I come to dominate. I don’t care how long the fight goes — one or 12 rounds — I need to dismantle this guy and show the world I am serious about this game.

Sky Sports Box Office will show Joshua v Molina on Saturday, December 10. Buy it now at www.skysports.com/joshua

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in