As you're doubtless aware, Anthony Joshua will trade blows with unheralded American Charles Martin tomorrow night, live on Sky Sports Box Office Pay-Per-View, to see who will become the IBF World heavyweight champion.
Joshua, a former Olympic gold medallist, is arguably the greatest physical specimen in the history of heavyweight boxing. The 26-year-old super-talent has had 15 fights, winning all 15 inside the distance and all but one - versus Dillion Whyte in December - within 3 rounds. He's a beast of an athlete, and probably the most marketable boxing entity since a prime, non-homophobic Manny Pacquiao.
It's a farce that he fights for a 'world title' this Saturday.
Relatively speaking, AJ's opponent, 'Prince' Charles Martin, is an unknown entity as he rolls up the Thames to defend his belt at London's O2 Arena. The 29-year-old St. Louis native is undefeated in 24 contests, winning 21 by stoppage. The southpaw is one of 'those' American fighters; he possesses a record that would suggest he's been tearing the heavyweight division asunder, but when it was announced that he would face Vyacheslav Glazkov for the vacant IBF belt in January, the numbers on his Youtube videos blew up.
Martin's most notable victories have arrived versus former Prizefighter contestant and David Price opponent Tom Dallas, 'The Pride of Tobago' and perennial step-up opponent Kertson Manswell, and the Ukrainian Glazkov, whose knee buckled before either he or Martin could impose their will on what was a poor fight.
And yet even by this definition alone, Martin is about three times more qualified than Saturday's opponent to fight for a 'world title'.
The Great Sky Hope
I've been a fan of Joshua since London 2012. Yes, he was fortunate to win Olympic gold; he quite clearly lost his last 16 bout with Erislandy Savon before being gifted a controversial hometown decision, but he still had to win three more fights with the weight of an expectant nation on his shoulders.
I was excited to see how he would develop when he turned professional under Eddie Hearn and Matchroom in July 2013, though admittedly fully aware he was destined to receive Premier League-level hype treatment from the powers that be at Sky.
Three years on, the shame of it is that Joshua's fledgling professional career to date has amounted to little more than a Sport Bible knockout compilation; in terms of garnering a massive following, it's been a promotional masterclass brimful of highlight-reel, show-stopping shots, but it ultimately lacks substance.
Sure, it's fine if casual sports fans think the Watford man is an all-conquering, indestructible beast - it's a positive that Joshua draws them to the sport. But being matched with glorified tomato cans has done little for his development as a fighter, and his sole fight with a decent opponent predictably exposed a flaw behind the record-building of The Great Sky Hope.
In round two of Joshua's thoroughly entertaining scrap with nemesis Dillian Whyte, the AJ train almost derailed spectacularly with a well-timed, counter-left hook.
To many, Joshua proved his mettle by recovering and halting Whyte with a thudding swing of his right hand, but the truth of the matter is that a solid heavyweight contender would not have let AJ off the hook when he was rattled in the second stanza. Joshua's career was only a few seconds from going the way of his predecessor, David Price.
Boxing's ABCs
Joshua - Whyte, however, was but a microcosm of the alphabet title bullshit which is endemic in modern boxing - the kind of "I'll scratch yours" culture which facilitates the type of garbage world title clash we'll see this weekend.
The pair faced off for the 'WBC International Silver belt' - the value or purpose for which nobody in their right mind could even begin to explain. The WBC, of course, are the ring-leaders in boxing bollology.
In 2011, they stripped Sergio Martinez of their middleweight championship and handed it on a silver platter to their president's godson, as beautifully detailed in Martinez's documentary Maravilla (which is well worth a watch on Netflix, FYI). But in truth, the Mexico-based organistion are no more dastardly than the rest: today alone, for example, the WBA stripped Carl Frampton of one of their WBA World super-bantamweight titles for refusing to face Guillermo Rigondeaux, whom they stripped of their other World super-bantamweight title last November for not fighting at all.
But it's the IBF who have descended to farce in recent months, somehow deeming a contractually-obliged Tyson Fury - Wladimir Klitschko rematch less worthy of their belt than Fury versus Glazkov as the Mancunian giant upset the odds in Dusseldorf. Fury was subsequently stripped of the IBF strap, which allowed Glazkov to face Charles Martin in one of the worst world heavyweight title fights in recent memory.
And that's how we've ended up at this juncture: two unproven heavyweights with respective strings of victories over domestic-level opponents facing each other, with the winner - most likely Joshua - technically entitled to describe himself as a world heavyweight champion.
Meanwhile both Deontay Wilder and Lucas Browne both hold other versions of the heavyweight championship, whilst Tyson Fury - the real heavyweight champion of the world (whether you like him or not) - prepares for a July rematch with Klitschko.
The thing is, Charles Martin is a legitimate step up for Joshua; it's a fight which, were it for no title at all, would be perfectly acceptable. Martin has a left hand capable of testing the whiskers of AJ - though one suspects he'll freeze beneath the London lights before he gets a chance to unleash it.
But in terms of boxing legacies, rushing Joshua into this faux world title shot robs a potential superstar of a legitimate coronation down the line - his Mike Tyson versus Michael Spinks, his Ali - Liston. The moments which define a legend's career.
He will instead become a world title holder not yet ready for a shot at Fury, who as things stand would box the ears off him, so instead he'll put away some soft defences on his home patch, and maybe one in America, until Matchroom either decide to take a calculated gamble against someone of David Haye's ilk or have a crack at Fury, probably 18 months down the line.
Having beaten no one of real note, he will remain a red-hot prospect and perhaps graduate to become a contender for the real crown, but all in the guise of a 'world champion'. And you won't know it when he's announced by social media as the new heavyweight king at 11:30pm on Saturday night.
