Anthony Joshua vs Gary Cornish

Anthony Joshua vs Gary Cornish, billed as Heavy Duty, was a heavyweight professional boxing match contested between undefeated WBC International champion Anthony Joshua, and undefeated IBO Inter-Continental champion Gary Cornish, with Joshua's WBC International, and the vacant Commonwealth titles on the line. The bout took place on 12 September 2015 at The O2 Arena in London, England. Joshua defeated Cornish, adding the Commonwealth title to his WBC International title via first-round technical knockout (TKO).

Heavy Duty
Date12 September 2015
VenueThe O2 Arena, Greenwich, London
Title(s) on the lineWBC International, and vacant Commonwealth heavyweight titles
Tale of the tape
Boxer United Kingdom Anthony Joshua United Kingdom Gary Cornish
Nickname AJ "Highlander"
Hometown Watford, Hertfordshire Inverness, Highland
Pre-fight record 13–0 (13 KOs) 21–0 (12 KOs)
Age 25 years, 10 months 28 years, 5 months
Height 6 ft 6 in (198 cm) 6 ft 7 in (201 cm)
Weight 249 lb (113 kg) 256 lb (116 kg)
Style Orthodox Orthodox
Recognition WBC International heavyweight champion IBO Inter-Continental heavyweight champion
Result
Joshua defeated Cornish in the first-round by TKO

Background

edit

Both fighters last fought in May 2015; Cornish scoring a fourth-round TKO win over Zoltan Csala to capture the IBO Inter-Continental title[1] and Joshua scoring a second-round TKO over former world title challenger Kevin Johnson–the first stoppage loss of Johnson's career–to retain his WBC International title.[2]

After Lucas Browne relinquished the Commonwealth title in order to face WBA (Regular) champion Ruslan Chagaev,[3] the Commonwealth Boxing Council ordered Joshua vs. Cornish for the vacant title, with the fight scheduled to take place on 12 September at The O2 Arena in London, live on Sky Sports.[4]

Joshua was ranked 2nd by the WBC, 3rd by the WBO, 12th by the IBF and 14th by the WBA.

The fight

edit

With both men showing intent to fight from the opening bell, Joshua landed a solid right hand a little under a minute into the fight, dropping the Scottish challenger to the canvas. Cornish made it to his feet before the referee's count of ten, only to be met by a sustained attack from Joshua. On the receiving end of another right hand, Cornish was down for a second time halfway through the round. He again made it to his feet just before the count of ten on unsteady legs, prompting referee Victor Loughlin to wave off the fight, giving Joshua his first major regional title via first-round TKO. Immediately after the fight, promoter Eddie Hearn revealed a deal was in place for Joshua to take on undefeated rival Dillian Whyte.[5]

Fight card

edit

Confirmed bouts:[6]

Weight Class vs. Method Round Time Notes
Heavyweight Anthony Joshua (c) def. Gary Cornish TKO 1/12 1:37 Note 1
Super-lightweight John Wayne Hibbert (c) def. Dave Ryan TKO 10/12 1:43 Note 2
Heavyweight Dillian Whyte def. Brian Minto TKO 3/12 0:26 Note 3
Flyweight Charlie Edwards def. Louis Norman (c) UD 10 Note 4
Featherweight Reece Bellotti def. Adel Hadjouis PTS 6
Super-lightweight Cassius Connor def. Ricky Boylan PTS 10
Super-lightweight Tommy Martin def. Michael Devine TKO 10/12 Note 5
Light-heavyweight Jake Ball def. Haidar Sadiq TKO 1/4 0:25
Light-middleweight Ted Cheeseman def. Gabor Ambrus TKO 2/4 0:54
Super-lightweight Ohara Davies def. Dame Seck TKO 3/6 2:41
Super-bantamweight Lucien Reid def. Samuel Escobar PTS 4

^Note 1 For WBC International, and vacant Commonwealth heavyweight titles
^Note 2 For Commonwealth, and WBC International super-lightweight titles
^Note 3 For vacant WBC International Silver heavyweight title
^Note 4 For English flyweight title
^Note 5 For vacant WBA Continental super-lightweight title

Broadcasting

edit
Country Broadcaster
  United Kingdom Sky Sports

References

edit
  1. ^ Parks, Gordon (23 May 2015). "Gary Cornish says he's set to be Scotland's first British heavyweight champion". dailyrecord. Archived from the original on 24 May 2015. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
  2. ^ "Anthony Joshua stops Kevin Johnson inside two rounds at O2 Arena". Sky Sports. 31 May 2015. Archived from the original on 31 May 2015. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
  3. ^ "Lucas Browne vacates Commonwealth heavyweight title as mandatory challenger to Ruslan Chagaev". Sky Sports. 14 July 2015. Archived from the original on 13 August 2015. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
  4. ^ "Anthony Joshua to face Gary Cornish for Commonwealth heavyweight title on September 12". Sky Sports. 17 July 2015. Archived from the original on 18 July 2015. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
  5. ^ Emons, Michael (12 September 2015). "Anthony Joshua beats Gary Cornish". BBC Sport. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
  6. ^ "BoxRec - event".
Preceded by Anthony Joshua' bouts
12 September 2015
Succeeded by
Preceded by
vs. Zoltan Csala
Gary Cornish's bouts
12 September 2015
Succeeded by
vs. Kamil Sokolowski