A year in boxing can be a long time.
In that period I?ve seen fighters become champions and then lose their belts, I?ve seen unknowns come from nowhere to be contenders and I?ve seen the elite slip back into mediocrity.
Anthony Joshua, an exciting heavyweight who looks set for the very top, has just completed his first year of fights and has notched up nine wins out of nine, with all nine ending by knockout and with Joshua never actually having heard the bell for the fourth round.
However, Anthony knows that there is still a long way to go before he can reach the summit of a division that is crying out for a hero.
Even so, the heavyweight, who turns 25 this Wednesday, might have been a little harsh on himself when he remarked in the after-math of his ninth knockout in nine fights,
?I?d give myself one out of ten for that fight, one out of ten for my first year as a pro because I don?t feel I have achieved anything yet.?
?When I can do the same as I did to Bakhtov to Klitschko only then would I give myself ten. Bakhtov?s not world champion, is he??
?After a year as a professional, I?m still the under-dog. The missing ingredient is experience but that is what we are working on and it will come.?
Modest, level-headed, good-looking and talented, could you ask for any more?
One out of Ten?
