No Holds Barred: Is Anthony Joshua Boxing's Next Superstar?

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman spoke with boxers Anthony Joshua and Dominic Breazeale, and Stephen Espinoza, Executive Vice President and General Manager, Showtime Sports, and Eddie Hearn, President of Matchroom Sports, about the June 25 Joshua-Breazeale fight and the future of boxing and the heavyweight division.

The fight between the IBF champ Joshua (16-0, 16 KOs) and the challenger Breazeale (17-0, 15 KOs) headlines a card at The O2 in London, which will be shown live on Sky Sports Box Office in the U.K. and on Showtime in the U.S.

While both fighters are thus far unbeaten as pros, the 2012 Olympic gold medalist Joshua is a big favorite in this fight. Joshua is viewed by many as the heir apparent to the title of world heavyweight champion, and as the next major international superstar in boxing.

We spoke with them on a media conference call Wednesday.

With all the hype and prognostications about his future, Anthony Joshua is trying to stay focused on one thing: boxing.

"I only see great things if I stay locked away in the gym," he said.

For his part, Dominic Breazeale is not intimidated by the hoopla surrounding his opponent.

"It's great," he said. "All the distractions are on Anthony. It's something he's got to deal with."

And we discussed when Anthony Joshua might fight in America, his new deal with Showtime, and more.

(Photos by Lawrence Lustig.)

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The North American Catch Wrestling Association, a grassroots organization designed to help rebuild the sport of catch-as-catch-can-wrestling. For more information, go to their Facebook page at facebook.com/NorthAmericanCatchWrestlingAssociation.

BJJ Eastern Europe, for the latest Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu news, articles, interviews, competition calendar, European belt rankings, academy directory, and more. For more information, go to BJJEE.com.

The National Registry for Wrestling, whose mission is to increase wrestling's fanbase, to build a registry of all wrestling fans, to serve as a connecting point for all wrestling fans, and to provide TV and Internet listings for wrestling. For more information, go to NR4W.com.

No Holds Barred: Charles Martin, Anthony Joshua, The Unpredictable Heavyweights

(Photo of Charles Martin and Anthony Joshua by Lawrence Lustig)

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman spoke with unbeaten heavyweight boxers Charles Martin and Anthony Joshua, who face each other this Saturday, April 9.

Martin (23-0-1, 21 KOs), who is 29 years old, will make the first defense of his IBF title when he faces Joshua (15-0, 15 KOs), 26, at the O2 Arena in London, England. Although he holds the belt, Martin, from Carson, California, in the U.S., is the underdog against Joshua, a 2012 Olympic gold medalist who is from Watford, Hertfordshire, U.K.

This fight will be shown live in the U.K. on Sky Sports Box Office and live in the U.S. on Showtime.

We spoke with both Charles Martin and Anthony Joshua on a media conference call Monday.

On that call, Joshua predicted that he would win by a knockout by the sixth round, while a confident Martin dismissed Joshua as being "green" and inexperienced.

In a year when heavyweight boxing has yielded a series of unpredictable results and developments, we shall see Saturday if the local hero and favorite Joshua wins and fulfills the predictions of many that he is the future of the heavyweight division, or if the underdog and unexpected champion Martin retains his belt and proves the pundits and oddsmakers wrong.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link doesn't work, please try another.

Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.

You can also listen to No Holds Barred via Stitcher through iOS or Android devices or on the web here.

The PodOmatic Podcast Player app is available for free, both for Android at Google Play, and for iOS on the App Store.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.

No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

The Frank Gotch World Catch Wrestling Tournament. On Sunday, July 3, 2016, catch wrestlers from all around the world will compete in Humboldt, Iowa, the hometown of the legendary world champion wrestler Frank Gotch. Organized by the Catch Wrestling Alliance and co-sponsored by IAWrestle, the Frank Gotch Statue Committee, and the Frank Gotch Kids Wrestling Club, the event will take place at Humboldt High School. For more information, go to CatchWrestlingAlliance.com.

The North American Catch Wrestling Association, a grassroots organization designed to help rebuild the sport of catch-as-catch-can-wrestling. For more information, go to their Facebook page at facebook.com/NorthAmericanCatchWrestlingAssociation.

BJJ Eastern Europe, for the latest Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu news, articles, interviews, competition calendar, European belt rankings, academy directory, and more. For more information, go to BJJEE.com.

The National Registry for Wrestling, whose mission is to increase wrestling's fanbase, to build a registry of all wrestling fans, to serve as a connecting point for all wrestling fans, and to provide TV and Internet listings for wrestling. For more information, go to NR4W.com.

No Holds Barred: Deontay Wilder, Johann Duhaupas, The Heavyweights

(Photos of Anthony Joshua and Dillian Whyte by Lawrence Lustig. Photo of Wladimir Klitschko and Eddie Goldman by Keisha Morrisey.)

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman speaks with heavyweights Deontay Wilder and Johann Duhaupas, who fight this Saturday, September 26, and reviews the state of boxing's heavyweight division.

Wilder (34-0, 33 KOs), who holds the WBC heavyweight belt, faces Duhaupas (32-2, 20 KOs) of France in the main event of the prime time Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) on NBC telecast from the Legacy Arena in Birmingham, Alabama, Wilder's home state.

We also discuss how the real and only heavyweight champion of the world today is Wladimir Klitschko, who holds just about every belt except the one Wilder has. We also discuss the many heavyweight contenders, including Tyson Fury, WBC mandatory number one challenger Alexander Povetkin, Vyacheslav Glazkov, Bermane Stiverne, Luis Ortiz, Erkan Teper, and others, as well as unbeaten U.K. fighters Anthony Joshua and Dillian Whyte, who face each other December 12 in the O2 Arena in London.

We spoke with both Deontay Wilder and Johann Duhaupas on this past Thursday's media conference call.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link doesn't work, please try another.

Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.

You can also listen to No Holds Barred via Stitcher through iOS or Android devices or on the web, at http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/no-holds-barred-with-eddie-goldman.

The PodOmatic Podcast Player for iOS is available for free on the App Store.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.

No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

MMA World Expo. The mixed martial arts community comes to New York City December 12 and 13, 2015, for the sixth annual MMA World Expo, featuring two days of the Renzo Gracie Open 2015 no-gi and gi Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournaments, MMA fighters, seminars with world-class trainers, vendors, panel discussions, catch wrestling competition, and much more. The MMA World Expo takes place Saturday, December 12, and Sunday, December 13, 2015, at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City.

American Top Team. Whether you're a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site at AmericanTopTeam.com.

Defense Soap, an effective, deep penetrating body soap with natural antifungal, antiviral, and antibacterial soap ingredients. Defense Soap is the best cleansing body soap for men and women athletes who are involved in contact sports such as MMA, wrestling, grappling, jiu-jitsu, and judo, to help their antifungal, anti-ringworm, anti-jock itch strategy. Check out their web site, at DefenseSoap.com.

Gracie Tournaments, featuring regional, national, and world competitions in submission-only Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. For more information, go to GracieWorlds.com.