Almost 32 years have passed since the day that Tim Tomashek, a part-time heavyweight journeyman who worked at a department store chain’s distribution center, was pulled out of the crowd, ushered backstage and emerged a couple hours later to fight Tommy Morrison for a heavyweight belt, live on ESPN.
Considering that he had pre-gamed for the late replacement assignment by eating hot dogs and drinking beer among the Kansas City fans, it wasn’t too bad of a performance for Tomashek, who became a minor celebrity for a short while because of his show of fortitude and prolific use of the word “jeepers” in the post-fight interview. Asked after the fight how he had prepared to face Morrison, Tomashek replied: “They beat me up at work.”
It’s unknown whether Padley, a British electrician who tells FightHub he was installing solar panels the day he was offered the fight with WBC titleholder Shakur Stevenson on less than a week’s notice, had the benefit of trading punches with any of his co-workers leading up to his unlikely opportunity on Saturday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
On the bright side, he probably won’t be bogged down by a belly full of Coors Banquets, as Tomashek had to contend with.
Fighting Stevenson, a slick southpaw from Newark, New Jersey, is a difficult challenge to undertake, even with the benefit of a full six-week training camp. To come in with about four days’ notice, without any time to have a proper sparring session to get your timing right, is an incredible task.
So there is a reason why Stevenson, 22-0 (10 KOs), is a -4000 favorite, according to Draftkings, while Padley, 15-0 (4 KOs), is a +1400 underdog.
But, when money isn’t an issue, and a loss isn’t likely to get you blacklisted, it seems it was worth it for the 29 year old from Doncaster to take the phrase “daring to be great” to a new level.
The biggest question boxing fans have likely had going into this fight has probably been, “Who is Josh Padley?” Grey Johnson, the chief marketing officer and an editor for Boxrec, told BoxingScene that Padley’s page has seen a huge jump in traffic, with over 60,000 visits over the past 72 hours, as of Friday afternoon.
Luckily for Padley, he has had some experience of fighting southpaws. His highest profile win came in his past fight, a unanimous decision over the previously unbeaten Mark Chamberlain in September. In that fight, Padley showcased his grit and even uncharacteristic punching power, dropping Chamberlain with a left hook in the eighth round.
Stevenson, a three-division champion who is perhaps the best defensive boxer in the sport, is a different beast to Chamberlain. Stevenson is looking for a fresh start under new promoter Matchroom after splitting with Top Rank, which had promoted him since he turned pro after earning a silver medal at the 2016 Olympics.
The fight with Floyd Schofield looked to be the right match-up to take interest in his career to a new level. The two have what seems like genuine animosity and disdain, making Stevenson-Schofield the sleeper pick for the fight to get excited about. Instead, Schofield withdrew amid a series of bizarre poisoning claims, which have since been deleted from Schofield’s Twitter account. If there is anything that could redeem Schofield after this series of events, it was Daniel Dubois’ withdrawal on Thursday due to a viral infection, which has taken the pressure off of Schofield somewhat.
What happens when the bell rings? A new opponent is also an adjustment for the other boxer, as Stevenson will have to discard much of his strategy and take a look at what he has in front of him. That process could take several rounds, as Stevenson looks to figure out just what Padley has to offer.
Logic would lead one to assume that the fighter who has had a chance to properly condition themselves for a 12-round bout will be the stronger fighter down the stretch, particularly given the fact that Padley has never fought in a scheduled 12-rounder. Couple that with the fact that Padley isn’t considered a big puncher and it’s hard to figure out what a path to victory for him looks like.
The mission remains the same for Stevenson: win impressively and establish yourself as someone who is ready for the mega-fights against the likes of Gervonta Davis, Vasiliy Lomachenko or whoever would be the best available challenges.
For Padley, he’s in somewhat of a no-lose situation. He’s undoubtedly making the biggest purse of his career, getting the world-title opportunity that very few will ever see and now will have the biggest power brokers in the sport owing him one for saving one of the fights on the Beterbiev-Bivol II card. Even should he lose, it won’t be the last we’ll have seen for Padley. In fact, it’ll probably be the first most have seen of him.
At least we’ll now have the answer to, “Who is Josh Padley?”
