Former multiple world champion and boxing legend Lennox Lewis believes Anthony Joshua needs to fight outside of the U.K in order to become more respected in heavyweight boxing.
Lewis was known for fighting in other countries on numerous occasions. Lewis fought in places like Ireland, Canada, South Africa and obviously the United States, where he beat the likes of Evander Holyfield, Mike Tyson and Vitali Klitschko.
Joshua still hasn’t got a fight under his belt abroad but that might change with the highly likely rematch against Wladimir Klitschko.
“For me, I believe that if you’re a world champion, you should fight around the world – it builds you as a fighter and a person. You can have a good following in Britain, but then you go to America, and no one knows you. So you have to build a following there too. It’s important to fight in other places. It’s a historic thing. Muhammad Ali fought in Africa, so my aim was always to fight in Africa too, which I did,” said Lewis according to The Sun.
Lewis says that making a name for yourself can be tough abroad, especially in the United States. But it’s something that Joshua needs to do.
“Now, anywhere and everywhere I go, I still get fans coming up to me. In the beginning, when I started boxing over in America, I used to get booed because I was the Brit coming over to their country. But when I won over there, they said ‘fine, he’s an OK Brit! He boxes well’. They accepted me as a good fighter,” told Lewis.
With just 19 professional fights, Joshua still has a long road ahead of him towards the same type of status that Lewis has. He definitely has potential but in order to be number one world wide, Joshua must fight world wide as well and win.