Anthony Joshua vs Gary Cornish
 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 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 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Result | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Joshua defeated Cornish in the first-round by TKO | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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).
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[1] 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.[2]
After Lucas Browne relinquished the Commonwealth title in order to face WBA (Regular) champion Ruslan Chagaev,[3] 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.[4]
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.[5]
Fight card
Confirmed bouts:[6]
| 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 |
References
- ^ Parks, Gordon (23 May 2015). "Gary Cornish says he's set to be Scotland's first British heavyweight champion". dailyrecord. Archived from the original on 24 May 2015. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
- ^ "Anthony Joshua stops Kevin Johnson inside two rounds at O2 Arena". Sky Sports. 31 May 2015. Archived from the original on 31 May 2015. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
- ^ "Lucas Browne vacates Commonwealth heavyweight title as mandatory challenger to Ruslan Chagaev". Sky Sports. 14 July 2015. Archived from the original on 13 August 2015. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
- ^ "Anthony Joshua to face Gary Cornish for Commonwealth heavyweight title on September 12". Sky Sports. 17 July 2015. Archived from the original on 18 July 2015. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
- ^ Emons, Michael (12 September 2015). "Anthony Joshua beats Gary Cornish". BBC Sport. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
- ^ "BoxRec - event".