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LONDON (AP) — Home advantage was supposed to give Anthony Joshua an edge in his world heavyweight title fight against IBF champion Charles Martin on Saturday.
Yet the British challenger said Thursday he may struggle to handle the emotions of fighting in front of 20,000 fans at the atmospheric O2 Arena in his home city of London.
Asked in the fighters' head-to-head news conference if he is confident of handling the occasion, the 26-year-old Joshua said: "Probably not. I'll probably go out there and try to take his head off ... I'm not going to go out there and dance around and try to evade punches."
Joshua won an Olympic gold medal at the O2 Arena in 2012 and has won four professional fights at the venue, helping him to a 15-0 record since turning pro. All his victories have come by knockout.
Martin, however, said fighting in what could be a hostile crowd will bring the best out of him.
"I'm comfortable everywhere I go. That isn't anything new," said Martin, who wore a smart gray overcoat and scarf. "When I first fought at Madison Square Garden, I went in there and performed as such. Same when I fought at the Barclays Center (in beating Vyacheslav Glazkov for the IBF belt in January).
"They are going to be screaming for their guy. That translates to love for me."
The mutual respect that has existed between the fighters continued Thursday. There was no trash talk or finger pointing. Joshua spoke about "wanting to see blood" and "going to war," but it was mostly pleasantries by two men facing the biggest tests of their careers.
Martin has a reputation for being a big puncher, but Joshua might be even bigger. Not that it concerns the champion.
"Him being physically strong and powerful wasn't even an issue," Martin said. "When I first started boxing in the heavyweight school I was in, those guys were 250 pounds, big punchers, big heavy guys and I was 208 pounds, but I knew how to be evasive and get out of the way. That's never left me.
"They had the power to knock my head off. Did they? No. I know how to move my head and be evasive. I'm technical in there, real true boxing analysts, people who know the sport see the smart things I do."
Joshua accepted that he was taking a risk by fighting for a world title so early in his professional career.
"But let's scrap all this, 'He's only had 15, 16 fights' nonsense and just put two men in the ring together who want it," Joshua said. "This is just me and Charles going toe to toe. We are big hitters, in great condition."
It will be the first world heavyweight title fight in London in 16 years.
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