Anthony Joshua vs Gary Cornish

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 KO) 21–0 (12 KO) 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 No. 2 Ranked Heavyweight WBO No. 3 Ranked Heavyweight IBF No. 12 Ranked Heavyweight WBA No. 13 Ranked Heavyweight WBC International heavyweight champion IBO Inter-Continental heavyweight champion
Result
Joshua defeated Cornish in the first-round by TKO

Anthony Joshua vs. Gary Cornish, billed as Heavy Duty, was a professional boxing match contested on 12 September 2015, for the Commonwealth and WBC International heavyweight championship.[1] The bout took place at The O2 Arena in London.

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[2] 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.[3]

After Lucas Browne relinquished the Commonwealth title in order to face WBA (Regular) champion Ruslan Chagaev,[4] 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.[5]

Joshua was ranked 2nd by the WBC, 3rd by the WBO, 12th by the IBF and 13th by the WBA.

The fights

Undercard

The preliminary bouts saw wins for, among others, prospects Ohara Davies, Ted Cheeseman and Reece Bellotti. The first featured bout saw Charlie Edwards outpoint English flyweight champion Louis Norman.

Whyte vs. Minto

This was followed by unbeaten heavyweight contender Dillian Whyte facing American veteran Brian Minto, with the WBC International Silver title on the line.[6]

The fight

Whyte knocked down Minto in the 1st round before knocking him out in the 3rd.[7]

Preceded by vs. Irineu Beato Costa Junior	Dillian Whyte's bouts 12 September 2015	Succeeded by vs. Anthony Joshua
Preceded by vs. Israel Adesanya	Brian Minto's bouts 12 September 2015	Succeeded by vs. Edmund Gerber

Ryan vs. Hibbert III

The chief support saw Commonwealth and WBC International Light welterweight champion Dave Ryan have a trilogy bout with John Wayne Hibbert.[8] Ryan had twice before bested Hibbert winning a points decision in March 2013 and stopping him in the 9th round in May 2015.

The fight

Ryan was in control from the opening bell, knocking down Hibbert in the 6th round. Hibbert began to exert pressure from rounds 7 through 9. In the 10th, after a right hook from Hibbert, Ryan pulled backwards with his hand on his back, visibly in pain. After a momentary pause, Hibbert attacked with a three punch combination to the champion's body, forcing Ryan to go down to the canvas on one knee, informing the referee his "back had gone". He managed to rise to his feet, only to be met by a flurry of punches from Hibbert to prompt referee Ian John Lewis to step in and call a halt to the contest, handing Hibbert a 9th round TKO victory.[9][10]

Main Event

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.

Aftermath

Immediately after the fight, promoter Eddie Hearn revealed a deal was in place for Joshua to take on undefeated rival Dillian Whyte.[11]

Fight card

Confirmed bouts:[12][13]

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
Preliminary bouts
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

1. "Anthony Joshua vs. Gary Cornish". boxrec.com. BoxRec. Retrieved 19 January 2025.
2. 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.
3. "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.
4. "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.
5. "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.
6. "Dillian Whyte puts unbeaten record on the line against former world title challenger Brian Minto". Sky Sports. 4 September 2015. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
7. "Dillian Whyte stopped Brian Minto in three rounds to set up his British title fight with Anthony Joshua". Sky Sports. 13 September 2015. Retrieved 13 September 2015.
8. "Dave Ryan vs. John Wayne Hibbert (3rd meeting)". boxrec.com. BoxRec. Retrieved 19 January 2025.
9. Dodge, Dennis (17 September 2015). "Results, Redemption and Regrets: John Wayne Hibbert vs Dave Ryan 3". Ring News 24. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
10. Brown, Shaun (12 September 2015). "Dillian Whyte Crushes Minto In Three; Eyes Joshua Clash". BoxingScene.com. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
11. Emons, Michael (12 September 2015). "Anthony Joshua beats Gary Cornish". BBC Sport. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
12. "BoxRec - event".
13. "Heavy Duty". matchroomboxing.com. Matchroom Boxing. Archived from the original on 8 October 2015. Retrieved 19 January 2025.

Preceded by vs. Kevin Johnson	Anthony Joshua' bouts 12 September 2015	Succeeded by vs. Dillian Whyte
Preceded by vs. Zoltan Csala	Gary Cornish's bouts 12 September 2015	Succeeded by vs. Kamil Sokolowski