Anthony Joshua will breeze past Gary Cornish, says Glenn McCrory
Thursday 10 September 2015 18:25, UK
Gary Cornish may be undefeated but he's going up against something very special in Anthony Joshua, says Glenn McCrory...
I'm expecting it to be something approaching business as usual for Joshua.
There might be a few new questions asked though because of Cornish's size and the fact he's undefeated. He's never been beaten as an amateur or as a professional, so he has no idea what defeat's about. He must see this as a great opportunity.
Cornish has a slight height advantage and Joshua has never had to punch upwards. He's always punched down to his opponents. The question is whether Cornish can use his physical advantages, because nobody's ever had them over AJ - let alone been able to use them!
I'm glad Joshua is going for the Commonwealth title and then the British title because that's the way to make sure these titles stay important. It's part of his development too.
Nobody has taken AJ into the fourth round. Has Cornish got what it takes to do that? Does anybody that Joshua is likely to face in the foreseeable future have what it takes? So far, he's looking great and doing everything right. One would hope that he's not going to take this lightly but I don't think he's that sort of character.
I must admit, I think this is simply another part of the journey. The Commonwealth, British, European and then the world - I think it's all probably going to happen in the next 18 months.
The Dillian Whyte fight for the British crown is all agreed for December and some say that's a bit of an insult to Cornish but I don't think it has much to do with Joshua. I think he'll be focused, and once he gets his excellent jab working - that puts everyone in their place. He's on a real roll.
Of course, when most people are talking ahead of this fight and the only question they're really asking is: which round is it going to end in? there's a chance that Joshua could get over-confident. People who are looking at his journey are asking when this is going to get hard, but I don't think his first real test will come until he faces Whyte.
Joshua has a real hang-up about Whyte. He really wants to beat him and I've never seen him react to anybody in the way he reacts to Dillian. It'll be so interesting to see them on the same bill on Saturday night. That's why they're doing this - to give us a look at both of them.
It adds something extra to the whole thing because both will be wanting to upstage the other and that adds danger. The danger is being busy trying to look good and forgetting about getting the job done. They both have to perform.
It's Joshua's time and everything he does comes under a lot of scrutiny, but what's interesting is that it's becoming the same for Dillian now. He's being put on the same bill and in the same bracket as an Olympic gold medalist so people will be looking at him as well to decide whether he's a worthy challenger.
They both have to perform and it's going to be great to see them on the same night.