ABUJA: Anthony Joshua has been backed by Islam Makhachev to switch to MMA from boxing, saying that if he improved his wrestling, he could be dangerous in both sports.
Joshua is currently recovering after being involved in a fatal car crash in Nigeria last December, in which he lost two of his team members, who were also his close friends.
Former two time world champion has returned to training and is expected to return to the ring, but he recently appeared during a PFL event in Dubai, where he met Khabib Nurmagomedov and Makhachev. Makhachev, after meeting Joshua, said that the Briton has all the ingredients to transition from boxing to MMA.
“He showed me and said, ‘I want to make T-shirts,’” Makhachev told Arena Fight TV. “I told him, ‘OK, I’ll give you a product for you to make, and you have to also come to Dagestan to improve your wrestling.’ “This guy is huge with very good striking — he’s one of the best boxers in the world. If this big guy improved his wrestling, can you imagine how good he’d be in MMA?”
Joshua had planned to fight in March before a showdown with Tyson Fury in September; however, after losing his friends Sina Ghami and Latif ‘Latz’ Ayodele, he is finding it difficult to make a comeback.
In a recent interview, his promoter, Eddie Hearn, has suggested he is starting to get back into the gym, but he can’t tell if he will fight in the future. “I don’t think there is any guarantees he fights again, but at the same time I expect him to because it’s something that he loves. It’s something he can carry those guys with him, though as well and it’s something he wants to do,” Hearn said.
“From a boxing sense, physically it wasn’t easy what he went through either. People probably don’t realise the extent of what he’s been through. He’s been training, but he’s not ready yet and he won’t be for a while to return to boxing training.”
He added that they were planning a fight for Anthony Joshua in March and then a bout against Tyson Fury, but for now, that’s not going to happen. “We were gearing up for him to fight in March and then fight Tyson Fury. Obviously, that’s not going to happen now.
I don’t know if it will ever happen. In the next few months, he will turn up the dial on training and see where he is at on that,” he added.
