By James Dielhenn

Only a few hundred souls saw it – none would understand the significance until years later. Even now, weeks away from Anthony Joshua’s US debut, what happened in his forgotten fight in America is whispers and hearsay to everyone except the select few who saw the punches fly and the opponent fall.

There were groans in the half-empty room when the American, a reputed tough guy from the US military, hit the deck. Defeat imminent, inflicted by a gangly visitor, a kid from England who would probably amount to nothing.

Quietly and discreetly at ringside, Roger Mayweather nodded with approval.

The kid who won the fight, still just 20 and wide-eyed on his first visit to the United States, was Anthony Joshua. There was no fanfare, no major celebration. A few people, all from his travelling team, applauded and pierced the Vegas night with their geezer accents but there was none of the pomp that Joshua can expect when he next fights in America.

These were the first punches that Joshua threw in the United States. Eight-and-a-half years later he defends his world heavyweight titles against Andy Ruiz Jr at Madison Square Garden on June 1 but the first time he traded punches in an American boxing ring he was representing his amateur gym, Finchley, in a tournament at the Hard Rock Café in Vegas.

“The first round was pretty close but then Josh was too strong for the other kid,” his then-coach Sean Murphy remembered. “Josh dropped him in the last round and threw another punch as the kid was going down – he got a warning for that.

“Josh won the fight clearly.”

The opponent was J’Von Wallace – a military man by day, and experienced amateur boxer by night.

“Wallace was a big guy but Josh won convincingly,” said Ollie Pattison, a team-mate of Joshua’s who also won on the same night.

“Too strong, too quick. Josh hit him with everything – luckily it was only an amateur fight so three rounds. Any longer and the guy wouldn’t have been able to take it.

Article courtesy of James Dielhenn