Anthony Joshua vs Gary Cornish

Anthony Joshua vs Gary Cornish, billed as Heavy Duty, was a heavyweight professional boxing match contested between undefeated WBC International champion Anthony Joshua, and undefeated IBO Inter-Continental champion Gary Cornish, with Joshua's WBC International, and the vacant Commonwealth titles on the line. The bout took place on 12 September 2015 at The O2 Arena in London, England. Joshua defeated Cornish, adding the Commonwealth title to his WBC International title via first-round technical knockout (TKO).

Heavy Duty

Date	12 September 2015
Venue	The O2 Arena, Greenwich, London
Title(s) on the line	WBC International, and vacant Commonwealth heavyweight titles
Tale of the tape
Boxer Anthony Joshua Gary Cornish Nickname AJ "Highlander" Hometown Watford, Hertfordshire Inverness, Highland Pre-fight record 13–0 (13 KOs) 21–0 (12 KOs) Age 25 years, 10 months 28 years, 5 months Height 6 ft 6 in (198 cm) 6 ft 7 in (201 cm) Weight 249 lb (113 kg) 256 lb (116 kg) Style Orthodox Orthodox Recognition WBC International heavyweight champion IBO Inter-Continental heavyweight champion
Result
Joshua defeated Cornish in the first-round by TKO

Background

Both fighters last fought in May 2015; Cornish scoring a fourth-round TKO win over Zoltan Csala to capture the IBO Inter-Continental title and Joshua scoring a second-round TKO over former world title challenger Kevin Johnson–the first stoppage loss of Johnson's career–to retain his WBC International title.

After Lucas Browne relinquished the Commonwealth title in order to face WBA (Regular) champion Ruslan Chagaev, the Commonwealth Boxing Council ordered Joshua vs. Cornish for the vacant title, with the fight scheduled to take place on 12 September at The O2 Arena in London, live on Sky Sports.

Joshua was ranked 2nd by the WBC, 3rd by the WBO, 12th by the IBF and 14th by the WBA.

The fight

With both men showing intent to fight from the opening bell, Joshua landed a solid right hand a little under a minute into the fight, dropping the Scottish challenger to the canvas. Cornish made it to his feet before the referee's count of ten, only to be met by a sustained attack from Joshua. On the receiving end of another right hand, Cornish was down for a second time halfway through the round. He again made it to his feet just before the count of ten on unsteady legs, prompting referee Victor Loughlin to wave off the fight, giving Joshua his first major regional title via first-round TKO. Immediately after the fight, promoter Eddie Hearn revealed a deal was in place for Joshua to take on undefeated rival Dillian Whyte.

Fight card

Confirmed bouts:

Weight Class		vs.		Method	Round	Time	Notes
Heavyweight	Anthony Joshua (c)	def.	Gary Cornish	TKO	1/12	1:37	Note 1
Super-lightweight	John Wayne Hibbert (c)	def.	Dave Ryan	TKO	10/12	1:43	Note 2
Heavyweight	Dillian Whyte	def.	Brian Minto	TKO	3/12	0:26	Note 3
Flyweight	Charlie Edwards	def.	Louis Norman (c)	UD	10		Note 4
Featherweight	Reece Bellotti	def.	Adel Hadjouis	PTS	6
Super-lightweight	Cassius Connor	def.	Ricky Boylan	PTS	10
Super-lightweight	Tommy Martin	def.	Michael Devine	TKO	10/12		Note 5
Light-heavyweight	Jake Ball	def.	Haidar Sadiq	TKO	1/4	0:25
Light-middleweight	Ted Cheeseman	def.	Gabor Ambrus	TKO	2/4	0:54
Super-lightweight	Ohara Davies	def.	Dame Seck	TKO	3/6	2:41
Super-bantamweight	Lucien Reid	def.	Samuel Escobar	PTS	4

^Note 1 For WBC International, and vacant Commonwealth heavyweight titles
^Note 2 For Commonwealth, and WBC International super-lightweight titles
^Note 3 For vacant WBC International Silver heavyweight title
^Note 4 For English flyweight title
^Note 5 For vacant WBA Continental super-lightweight title

Broadcasting

Country	Broadcaster
United Kingdom	Sky Sports