Who Will Joshua Fight Next?

[bigman1968]

Currently tied between Joseph Parker and David Haye at 8 votes apiece!

Wishfull thinking

[bigman1968]

why has nobody mentioned luis ortiz seems like the obvious choice to beat anthony "biblical" joshua

Ortiz can only dream to get near this purse His managers are not good enough to get it

[Bard of Boxrec]

Malik Scott, I guess.

Who finds himself in the Boxrec top ten on the back of wins over Alex Leapai and a shot Tony Thompson

[Cutman Scabbers]

Unification with Browne? Unless Browne gets stripped and/or suspended. But I dunno if I trust Chechnyan drug test results.

Would love to see Joshua vs. Browne.

Or Fury vs. Browne!

[Evander]

Who he will fight and who I want him to fight are very different things.
I think he will fight someone down the list and not a big name opponent to begin with, they might do that 2 or 3 times before they get around to someone bigger.
Of the bigger names I'd like to see him fight Wilder first.

[world ranked]

Did anyone else hear an agreement already in place for Malik Scott?

[franio]

I'm pretty sure David Haye can KO Joshua.

[asdfjkl]

I hoped for the winner of Takam Parker. That would be a massive finger to Wilder who clearly wasted as much time as possible before fighting his mandatory. Somehow I very much doubt it will happen if I read the news.

[bigman1968]

I hoped for the winner of Takam Parker. That would be a massive finger to Wilder who clearly wasted as much time as possible before fighting his mandatory. Somehow I very much doubt it will happen if I read the news.

Management of a boxers is about making money, not doing fingers(usually)...

[TooEasy12]

I would love to see him in the ring with Tarver, Jennings, or Stiverne

[ClivePatrickLyons]

Parker will defeat Takam to become IBF number 1 contender he'll be undefeated young and this fight you can sell pretty easy.

[Syntax Error]

I'm pretty sure David Haye can KO Joshua.

He'd have stop touring graveyards & hospital intensive care units for his opponents & get in the ring with Joshua to do that.

[ikorolev]

Joshua will take an easy fight with one of

http://www.punditarena.com/boxing/sraft ... ideration/?

"We expect from those rankings the likes of Bermane Stiverne, Eric Molina, Dominic Breazeale, those kind of people will be in the mix,” Hearn told Sky Sports.

[Artem]

I'd like to see Joshua vs Stiverne. Through this fight we could compare Joshua and Wilder

[jujigatame]

AJ will destroy Stiverne. Stiverne has power but he's a 37 year old plodder. I guess he has a puncher's chance but if AJ employs any sort of movement whatsoever, Stiverne will be little more than a heavy bag.

[Tony1244]

Joseph Parker- As a fan this is the one I want to see. A promoter though may want to wait on this mega fight.

David Haye- This fight would sell like hotcakes in the UK. Risky for AJ though.

Stiverne- I hate it when fighters get rewarded for not fighting. Stiverne is easy pickings for someone as good as AJ.

Molina & Duhaupas are good contenders for a guy coming up. Just close your eyes and pretend its not a title fight. See Wilder.

Briggs- Doesn't deserve a shot at anything but I wouldn't mind if it's him, and another severe beating should shut Shannon up for a few years.

[lckov]

If Hearn is being serious about Joshua fighting Fury in the next 6-12 months, he needs to start improving the class of his opponents and fast.

I would be disappointed if it was Breazeale as Breazeale appears to be no better than a Hughie Fury, Charles Martin or a Dillian Whyte and Joshua has been there, done that.

The likes of Stiverne or Molina might be more interesting. Joshua is only 16 fights into his pro career. so it is only sensible that he takes gradual steps. Both Molina and Stiverne would arguably be Joshua's toughest test to date. Stiverne has only been stopped once and lasted 12 rounds with Wilder only last year (the only man to do so, so far), while Molina has also taken Wilder 9 rounds in the last 12 months and is coming off the back of a win against Adamek which is respectable.

Joshua should beat both, but they may well prove tougher opponents than before and in the case of Stiverne, will hopefully take him to rounds that Joshua has not been to before and badly needs to experience.

[Maxsplit]

If Hearn is being serious about Joshua fighting Fury in the next 6-12 months, he needs to start improving the class of his opponents and fast.

I would be disappointed if it was Breazeale as Breazeale appears to be no better than a Hughie Fury, Charles Martin or a Dillian Whyte and Joshua has been there, done that.

The likes of Stiverne or Molina might be more interesting. Joshua is only 16 fights into his pro career. so it is only sensible that he takes gradual steps. Both Molina and Stiverne would arguably be Joshua's toughest test to date. Stiverne has only been stopped once and lasted 12 rounds with Wilder only last year (the only man to do so, so far), while Molina has also taken Wilder 9 rounds in the last 12 months and is coming off the back of a win against Adamek which is respectable.

Joshua should beat both, but they may well prove tougher opponents than before and in the case of Stiverne, will hopefully take him to rounds that Joshua has not been to before and badly needs to experience.

Not the greatest first post ... Hopefully they'll improve

Molina is appalling. He's a part time school teacher with a pro boxing license. He lost every minute of every round to Wilder and got dropped five times and stopped.

He got KOd inside a round vs Arreola.

Adamek has essentially lost 5 of his last 7 fights (it is widely accepted that Cunningham and a one armed Eddie Chambers beat him) and was never a heavyweight to start with. He is totally shot.

To compare him favourably to Dillian Whyte and Hughie Fury is incredibly poor judgement IMO.

[lckov]

Not the greatest first post ... Hopefully they'll improve

Molina is appalling. He's a part time school teacher with a pro boxing license. He lost every minute of every round to Wilder and got dropped five times and stopped.

He got KOd inside a round vs Arreola.

Adamek has essentially lost 5 of his last 7 fights (it is widely accepted that Cunningham and a one armed Eddie Chambers beat him) and was never a heavyweight to start with. He is totally shot.

To compare him favourably to Dillian Whyte and Hughie Fury is incredibly poor judgement IMO.

I'm clearly not intelligent enough to engage with you on this subject, but who do you feel would be the right sort of stepping stone fight for Joshua then?

Should he go in with Luis Ortiz, who clearly has far more years of experience than him, or maybe Bryant Jennings, who has lost his last two and would be difficult to sanction with the IBF?

He needs to take smaller steps. Personally I feel Stiverne is the right sort of test for a very raw boxer in Joshua who has only just stepped up to the world stage, and Molina has been fighting at world level for a few years now and is in the IBF top 15 so is a reasonable option. I don't really see who else is out there for him if Hearn is set on an American opponent.

It's got to be a better choice than Breazeale who got a lucky points decision against Kassi.

[Maxsplit]

Not the greatest first post ... Hopefully they'll improve

Molina is appalling. He's a part time school teacher with a pro boxing license. He lost every minute of every round to Wilder and got dropped five times and stopped.

He got KOd inside a round vs Arreola.

Adamek has essentially lost 5 of his last 7 fights (it is widely accepted that Cunningham and a one armed Eddie Chambers beat him) and was never a heavyweight to start with. He is totally shot.

To compare him favourably to Dillian Whyte and Hughie Fury is incredibly poor judgement IMO.

I'm clearly not intelligent enough to engage with you on this subject, but who do you feel would be the right sort of stepping stone fight for Joshua then?

Should he go in with Luis Ortiz, who clearly has far more years of experience than him, or maybe Bryant Jennings, who has lost his last two and would be difficult to sanction with the IBF?

He needs to take smaller steps. Personally I feel Stiverne is the right sort of test for a very raw boxer in Joshua who has only just stepped up to the world stage, and Molina has been fighting at world level for a few years now and is in the IBF top 15 so is a reasonable option. I don't really see who else is out there for him if Hearn is set on an American opponent.

It's got to be a better choice than Breazeale who got a lucky points decision against Kassi.

I don't disagree with most of what you are saying (apart from Molina being any good) ...You are spot on with Breazeale: Hughie Fury is facing in 2 weeks the guy who beat Breazeale in almost everyone's opinion ... So that would be an awkward first defence for a 'world champion'.

Stiverne would be great. I'd pay to watch that fight. Sadly, he mysteriously vanished from the IBF top 15 rankings in the last couple of days so he isn't eligible to fight Joshua as a voluntary defence.

Molina however popped in as a new entry at 14, so it's pretty clear who Joshua will be facing.

Jennings would be perfectly acceptable, he's coming off two defeats but is clearly a good calibre of boxer unlike Charles Martin (possibly the worst heavyweight champion of the world ever?) but he is not ranked by the IBF.

Ortiz is incredibly dangerous and you could absolutely forgive a promoter for avoiding facing him until you have to. But he too is not ranked by the IBF so either way Joshua can't defend against him.

This should hopefully demonstrate its just a paper title stripped from Tyson Fury and Joshua is not really an actual champion.

[lckov]

I don't disagree with most of what you are saying (apart from Molina being any good) ...You are spot on with Breazeale: Hughie Fury is facing in 2 weeks the guy who beat Breazeale in almost everyone's opinion ... So that would be an awkward first defence for a 'world champion'.

Stiverne would be great. I'd pay to watch that fight. Sadly, he mysteriously vanished from the IBF top 15 rankings in the last couple of days so he isn't eligible to fight Joshua as a voluntary defence.

Molina however popped in as a new entry at 14, so it's pretty clear who Joshua will be facing.

Jennings would be perfectly acceptable, he's coming off two defeats but is clearly a good calibre of boxer unlike Charles Martin (possibly the worst heavyweight champion of the world ever?) but he is not ranked by the IBF.

Ortiz is incredibly dangerous and you could absolutely forgive a promoter for avoiding facing him until you have to. But he too is not ranked by the IBF so either way Joshua can't defend against him.

This should hopefully demonstrate its just a paper title stripped from Tyson Fury and Joshua is not really an actual champion.

It's clearly only a paper title, but Joshua seemed to admit as much in his post fight interviews, talking about only owning a small part of the heavyweight title. The IBF title is currently not much higher than the European heavyweight title going on the last few fights and the current rankings, but that is fair enough for Joshua.

It is nice having another British champion, but I don't think serious boxing fans are kidding themselves that Joshua is in the "big 5" of Klitschko, Fury, Ortiz, Povetkin and Wilder. Instead he has now entered the second tier, and hopefully he is matched with a few of his own tier before he goes in to high to fight a Fury or a Haye.

[Maxsplit]

I don't disagree with most of what you are saying (apart from Molina being any good) ...You are spot on with Breazeale: Hughie Fury is facing in 2 weeks the guy who beat Breazeale in almost everyone's opinion ... So that would be an awkward first defence for a 'world champion'.

Stiverne would be great. I'd pay to watch that fight. Sadly, he mysteriously vanished from the IBF top 15 rankings in the last couple of days so he isn't eligible to fight Joshua as a voluntary defence.

Molina however popped in as a new entry at 14, so it's pretty clear who Joshua will be facing.

Jennings would be perfectly acceptable, he's coming off two defeats but is clearly a good calibre of boxer unlike Charles Martin (possibly the worst heavyweight champion of the world ever?) but he is not ranked by the IBF.

Ortiz is incredibly dangerous and you could absolutely forgive a promoter for avoiding facing him until you have to. But he too is not ranked by the IBF so either way Joshua can't defend against him.

This should hopefully demonstrate its just a paper title stripped from Tyson Fury and Joshua is not really an actual champion.

It's clearly only a paper title, but Joshua seemed to admit as much in his post fight interviews, talking about only owning a small part of the heavyweight title. The IBF title is currently not much higher than the European heavyweight title going on the last few fights and the current rankings, but that is fair enough for Joshua.

It is nice having another British champion, but I don't think serious boxing fans are kidding themselves that Joshua is in the "big 5" of Klitschko, Fury, Ortiz, Povetkin and Wilder. Instead he has now entered the second tier, and hopefully he is matched with a few of his own tier before he goes in to high to fight a Fury or a Haye.

Agreed.

But disagree that Molina is in this 2nd tier. Duhaupas might be on the fringe of it but Molina is bottom half of the 3rd division.

I'd put Pulev, Lucas Browne, Hugie Fury, Stiverne, Chisora, Ustinov, Whyte, Jennings & Joshua in this 2nd tier. All of these would be acceptable fights for Joshua now to see if he can sink or swim. Whyte was a challenge and I think most of these would be too at the moment.

[bigman1968]

Not the greatest first post ... Hopefully they'll improve

Molina is appalling. He's a part time school teacher with a pro boxing license. He lost every minute of every round to Wilder and got dropped five times and stopped.

He got KOd inside a round vs Arreola.

Adamek has essentially lost 5 of his last 7 fights (it is widely accepted that Cunningham and a one armed Eddie Chambers beat him) and was never a heavyweight to start with. He is totally shot.

To compare him favourably to Dillian Whyte and Hughie Fury is incredibly poor judgement IMO.

I'm clearly not intelligent enough to engage with you on this subject, but who do you feel would be the right sort of stepping stone fight for Joshua then?

Should he go in with Luis Ortiz, who clearly has far more years of experience than him, or maybe Bryant Jennings, who has lost his last two and would be difficult to sanction with the IBF?

He needs to take smaller steps. Personally I feel Stiverne is the right sort of test for a very raw boxer in Joshua who has only just stepped up to the world stage, and Molina has been fighting at world level for a few years now and is in the IBF top 15 so is a reasonable option. I don't really see who else is out there for him if Hearn is set on an American opponent.

It's got to be a better choice than Breazeale who got a lucky points decision against Kassi.

I don't disagree with most of what you are saying (apart from Molina being any good) ...You are spot on with Breazeale: Hughie Fury is facing in 2 weeks the guy who beat Breazeale in almost everyone's opinion ... So that would be an awkward first defence for a 'world champion'.

Stiverne would be great. I'd pay to watch that fight. Sadly, he mysteriously vanished from the IBF top 15 rankings in the last couple of days so he isn't eligible to fight Joshua as a voluntary defence.

Molina however popped in as a new entry at 14, so it's pretty clear who Joshua will be facing.

Jennings would be perfectly acceptable, he's coming off two defeats but is clearly a good calibre of boxer unlike Charles Martin (possibly the worst heavyweight champion of the world ever?) but he is not ranked by the IBF.

Ortiz is incredibly dangerous and you could absolutely forgive a promoter for avoiding facing him until you have to. But he too is not ranked by the IBF so either way Joshua can't defend against him.

This should hopefully demonstrate its just a paper title stripped from Tyson Fury and Joshua is not really an actual champion.

Ortiz, Jennings and Stiverne are not in IBF Top15, so they will not fight AJ for voluntary defense.

Chisora, Pulev, Parker, Ruiz and Takam are scheduled. Teper is out for PED. Glazkov still can't fight becouse his injury.

That leaves us with Haye, Breazele, Miller and Molina.

Aj's management are really want to expose AJ to US market, so it's Breazele most probably...he is the most convinient for AJ, I think.

[Escorpioza]

i would like the Breazeale fight because he is tall and big and good practice for Joshua when he finally fights Wilder or Fury.. they all are taller then Joshua .. lets see how Joshua fares against taller opponents.. we had Cornish but i think Breazeale is higher level then Cornish..

[Rob3_142]

Omg. Yeah but Breazeale is not a good boxer. He was losing badly against Amir Mansour before Mansour bit his tongue and couldn't continue. His defence is appalling, and considering what Joshua brings, it will be over very very quickly. I can see Hearn selling it though as he too was a 2012 Olympic boxer (although was knocked out in the first round).

This does not look good for AJ's next fight. I think even Hearn would be a little embarrassed to make this PPV.