Anthony Joshua well placed to create sustainable legacy

Foreman believes a showdown against the American Deontay Wilder, holder of the WBC belt, ranks as the biggest event waiting to be made in world boxing.

Joshua would start favourite but Wilder’s story is strikingly similar and his power creates similar edge-of-the-seat anticipation. With 56 knockouts between them in 57 fights, the promotional poster requires little in the way of creative thinking.

The WBO champion Joseph Parker retained his title but shed some credibility in outpointing Hughie Fury in Manchester last month. Joshua is quoted by bookmakers at odds of 1/20 to beat Parker, should they meet, and the one-sided nature of the proposition could be balanced by the opportunity for the Briton to make history. No heavyweight has ever held all four versions of the world title simultaneously.

Just turned 28, Joshua has talked of spending another decade in the sport and a new phase of his career begins on Saturday against the Cameroon-born Frenchman Takam.

Shocks caused across the decades by Leon Spinks, Buster Douglas, Oliver McCall and others will be familiar to a man so aware of heavyweight history and should provide insulation against complacency.

As Tyson said of Joshua, in our podcast back in June: “It’s his time.”