Meet Dominic Breazeale: Here's Everything We Know About Anthony Joshua's Next Opponent

An undefeated heavyweight with an Olympic pedigree. Should AJ be worried?

Apr 25, 2016
Image via USA TODAY SPORTS / Matchroom Boxing
Image via USA TODAY SPORTS / Matchroom Boxing

It's time to start the countdown to the next stop in Anthony Joshua's quest for world domination.

After conquering American heavyweight Charles Martin at the O2 Arena on April 9th to claim the IBF world heavyweight title, AJ will be welcoming another fighter to London from across the Atlantic in the shape of unbeaten man mountain, Dominic Breazeale.

With most casual fight fans wanting to see an all-British unification fight between Joshua and Tyson Fury sooner than logic tells them is possible, not everyone has been blown away by Breazeale's grand unveiling.

Is it going to be another big night on Box Office for Anthony Joshua or will it be his Buster Douglas moment? Here's everything you need to know about the challenger for AJ's IBF title on June 25th, Dominic Breazeale.

 

Just like AJ, Dominic Breazeale Has Olympic Pedigree

Image via USA TODAY SPORTS

It's pretty likely that Anthony Joshua has done a bit of research on Dominic Breazeale already, given that the two were both competing for Olympic gold at London 2012.

As a previous national champion, Breazeale was one of Team USA's highest hopes for a boxing medal at the last Olympics but he didn't live up to his potential, falling flat and getting eliminated at the first hurdle after being outclassed by Russain fighter Magomed Omaorv. He turned professional just three months later and his style of fighting – more brute power than sleek skill – seems more suited to the paid ranks.

Standing at six foot nine inches and weighing as much as 19 stone, Breazeale has the build of an athlete and before boxing, he was a star on the American college football circuit. He flirted with joining the NFL but his only firm offer came from a team in the less prestigous Canadian Football League.

He Has a Higher KO Ratio Than Tyson Fury and David Haye

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In a relatively short professional career to date, Dominic Breazeale has displayed the type of power that makes him a danger to any other fighter in a not-too-deep heavyweight division.

Breazeale has won all of his 17 fights so far and 15 of those wins have been via KO. That's a pretty impressive 88% KO ratio, which is higher than the king of the division, Tyson Fury (72%), and renowned power puncher David Haye (86%). 

He's boxed 57 rounds to AJ's 34 – and arguably the stiffest test of his career came in his last outing against 43-year-old slugger Amir Mansour. In something that will be a sign of encouragement for Joshua, Breazeale was floored by Mansour for the first time in his career. The IBF challenger did come back and win the fight – in style, too – leaving Mansour with a broken jaw and a split tongue that required 34 stitches.

Breazeale was also taken the distance by little-known fighter Fred Kassi, who has actually been lined up as a punchbag for Hughie Fury on April 30th.

To summarise, Breazeale has beat everyone put in front of him in style...but he's never really fought anyone who can claim to be world class.

Why Has Breazeale Been Chosen to Fight Joshua?

Image via Lawrence Lustig

Dominic Breazeale has been handpicked by Eddie Hearn to be a significant stepping stone on AJ's route to becoming a major box office attraction in the United States.

In the aftermath of AJ's explosive win over Charles Martin, Hearn claimed that both HBO and Showtime were fighting for the rights to exclusively screen the rest of Anthony Joshua's career to American audiences.

To solidify his status as the next face of heavyweight boxing Stateside, Hearn recognised the need to feed Joshua an opponent who is familiar – and admired – amongst American fight fans. Cue the arrival of Breazeale, an unbeaten heavyweight with Olympic pedigree who's signed to Al Haymon's imperious PBC stable.

Quite simply, if AJ blows away Breazeale – American audiences, TV networks and sponsors will have to take the 'Golden Boy' of British boxing pretty seriously.

The focus – both competitively and commercially – for Anthony Joshua and Eddie Hearn is a stadium fight with Tyson Fury and/or David Haye, followed by a line of headline fights in the United States.

Dominic Breazeale isn't going to be a roadblock to Anthony Joshua's manifest destiny.

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