I've raised this on the General Boxing board but thought I'd come to the source so the Brits could help me understand: Why is AJ taking a major step back to domestic competition? He's ranked No. 2 in the world. He should be positioning himself for next year's title shot by testing himself out against, at the very least, fringe contenders (as he's ascended to this lofty rating without actually fighting any real contenders yet). Instead, he feasts on Cornish Hen. And after fighting less than a round in that "test" ... he needs a full 3-month buildup to ready himself for Domestic Bob Dylan. What gives? How is it that Brits like AJ get a pass for fighting nobodies like this when ranked so highly? How is this fight an event?
Hes only ranked no2 Because of his activity, and this fight sells huge in uk, already sold out infact, eddie hearn has made a huge investment in AJ, he wants is back so ppv wull be on the cards in 2016
the answer is simple, he isnt ready for fringe world level operators yet. eddie will be hoping that dillian whyte takes joshua into deep water just to see how he handles the pressure, being hit in the chin and how his stamina holds up. he will be hoping to take joshua along better than wee kelly maloney did with david price when he was knocking cans over in stunning fashion! and he wants to make as much cash as possible before he has to put him in with the big guns!
He's still young and learning, give him a break! He's in a great place at the moment, plenty of entertaining fights for him out there at the moment, and even the top 10 a probably 50/50 fights for him. In 2016 I can see hearn getting him to defend the british title, grab the euro belt and fight stateside on a card with brook for exposure. Exciting times!
The answer is even simpler my friend, and I'm surprised the OP hasn't worked this out. Boxing is a business. This fight sells. It's been marketed it well and it's only feeding into the myth and legend that Anthony Joshua is becoming.
But that's what I don't understand ... why does this fight sell? Can't people see Domestic Bob Dylan is a setup? And why not fight in October anyway? Does he need 3 months to get ready for another Cornish Hen type?
because he wants to win the British title and this fight sells better than AJ vs some Euro HW the general public doesn't know or care about.
The facts are the rankings are pathetic, AJ as good as he is hasn't beat anyone to even claim to be number 2 with the WBC. It is way too early for him to fight the big names in the division but he is fighting someone who like himself has good potential and someone that could go on to fight at world level.
I think Hearn and Sky are happy to go along as they are, packing out arenas and collecting the PPV money. The danger of drawing his career out like that would be Joshua leaving for Haymon or promoting himself, which Hearn clearly doesn't want. I don't think many below Wlad/Povetkin/Wilder/Fury give Joshua a test at this stage.
His ranking is owing to that silly INTL belt he holds. Given it's a WBC ranking, I'd be hard pushed to take it seriously The Whyte fight has been slowly brewing by Hearn for ages as it's a ticket seller. Whyte has also constantly been going on about him on Twitter which has prompted a lot of people who had probably never seen him fight declare Whyte as the better of the two. If he doesn't take the fight he's ducked Whyte to put simply. Plus, if he is the fraud some claim then he'll be found out.
The fight sells because the casuals will buy in to Hearn telling them that this is a test for Joshua as Whyte beat him in the am's. Boxing fans know this is a load of nonsense but with the Sky hype machine in full flow with AJ Hearn knows he can move him along slowly-slowly, and still have him fighting bums as main events. And Joshua doesn't need 3 months. Hearn and Sky needed it in December as they already have Brook/Fury on PPV in October.
Domestic fights always sell better, look what Froch vs Groves did. He can fight someone like Carlos Takam, but he is unknown by the general boxing fans. You can say about Eddie what you want to say, but he knows how to promote a mediocre match like a huge match, by feeding some bums to Whyte and to Joshua to set them up for a clash, because Joshua lost to Whyte in the amateurs. He's booking matches WWE style ;-)