Who will Anthony Joshua fight next? - DAZN News US

It would be nice to think that Anthony Joshua would simply wait to face the winner of the Feb. 22 rematch between WBC titleholder Deontay Wilder and lineal champion Tyson Fury for undisputed heavyweight glory. That would be too easy, though, and because politics is very much entrenched in the boxing business, it may never happen.

With Wilder fighting under the PBC banner on Showtime, Fury with Top Rank on ESPN and Joshua with Matchroom Boxing on DAZN, the contractual red tape would create an absolute mess. The history between the three, and especially between Joshua and Wilder leads many to believe that such negotiations would remain on ice.

So, who will Joshua fight next after putting on a boxing clinic against Andy Ruiz Jr. to become a two-time unified world heavyweight champion?

The WBO announced immediately after AJ's victory that Joshua must make a title defense against Oleksandr Usyk within 180 days. 

Joshua's reaction?

"I'll whoop him," he said of the former undisputed cruiserweight champion at his postfight press conference early Sunday in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia.

The fact that Joshua (23-1, 21 KOs) and Usyk (17-0, 13 KOs) are 2012 Olympic gold medalists promoted by Matchroom Boxing's Eddie Hearn and fight on DAZN would seemingly make booking a fight between the two a seamless transaction.

Joshua, however, is facing another mandatory title defense with the IBF against Kubrat Pulev (28-1, 14 KOs). Then again, if Joshua and Hearn believe a bout with the Bulgarian would lack sizzle, then they could opt to vacate that strap and forgo the matchup. Usyk would seem to be the more challenging opponent for Joshua, anyway, based on footwork and pure boxing skills alone.

Usyk is just getting his feet wet in the heavyweight division after moving up from cruiserweight earlier this year, but the combination of him being Joshua's mandatory WBO challenger and the money that would be attached to the fight would make a clash with AJ even more difficult for the Ukrainian to pass up, and he would give his absolute best in that fight.

In fact, Usyk told Sky Sports earlier this year that he wanted to fight Joshua in the British champion's backyard at London's Wembley Stadium.

Joshua and Ruiz spoke Sunday about having a trilogy fight at some point, but given how AJ dominated their rematch, there's no urgency to make that fight happen anytime soon.

If there is indeed no chance of Joshua lining up an undisputed megafight vs. Wilder or Fury without any headaches, then Usyk just might get his wish.

And not too many boxing fans would be complaining about Joshua-Usyk at Wembley as AJ's first fight of 2020, either.

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December 07, 2019 at 08:24PM
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Who will Anthony Joshua fight next? - DAZN News US
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