Boxing-Joshua is fast learner but tougher tests loom (Reuters)
By Martyn Herman LONDON, May 14 (Reuters) – As flashbulbs illuminate his cast-iron torso in a gym wedged under a railway arch near London Bridge, Anthony Joshua paws at a punchbag with considerably less force than he used to demolish his first dozen opponents. The 25-year-old then levers himself into the ring and is introduced as “the future heavyweight champion of the world” by a suited executive from the latest company to sign up the Londoner heralded as British boxing’s next big thing. With 12 knockouts in 12 fights, all inside three rounds, since leaving the amateur ranks and moving into the shark-infested waters of professional boxing in 2013, Joshua is hearing those kind of endorsements quite often. Reigning three-belt world heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko, another former super-heavyweight Olympic gold medallist, recently sparred with Joshua and described him as the “future” of the division.