Who does Anthony Joshua fight next?

[foxdog1923]

AJ should go with this order..

1. Haye (2016)
2. Parker (2016)
3. Povetkin (2017)
4. Wilder (2017)
5. Ortiz (2017)
6. Fury/Klitschko (2017)

If he takes this path and wins them all (doesn't have to be KO) I will call him on of the modern greats.

Stiverne (October 2016), Pulev (January 2017) Haye (May 2017) Parker (august 2017) Wilder (December 31, 2017)

Wouldn't be surprised if they went with that or close to that order..

[Horse]

Wouldn't be surprised if they went with that or close to that order..

That would be very ambitious, so I doubt that will happen.

[Rob3_142]

AJ should go with this order..

1. Haye (2016)
2. Parker (2016)
3. Povetkin (2017)
4. Wilder (2017)
5. Ortiz (2017)
6. Fury/Klitschko (2017)

If he takes this path and wins them all (doesn't have to be KO) I will call him on of the modern greats.

Stiverne (October 2016), Pulev (January 2017) Haye (May 2017) Parker (august 2017) Wilder (December 31, 2017)

Wouldn't be surprised if they went with that or close to that order..

They'd probably meet Parker earlier because of the mandatory.

Stiverne (November 2016), Parker (March 2017), Pulev (July 2017), Haye (December 2017).

They'll go Stiverne because he'll offer a good litmus test to Wilder and further strengthen their hold on the US market. Then it's the mandatory defence against Parker. Then they'll have another voluntary defence against second ranked IBF. At which point Haye will have finished fannying around with nobody's and we'll have a huge domestic bout on our hands!

[foxdog1923]

Wouldn't be surprised if they went with that or close to that order..

That would be very ambitious, so I doubt that will happen.

Yeah maybe more ambitious BUT!! I would love to watch those fights. Joshua would instantly become a champion of the people.

[Horse]

Yeah maybe more ambitious BUT!! I would love to watch those fights. Joshua would instantly become a champion of the people.

Not if he got battered.

[ttornado]

Not if he got battered.

Didn't stop Bruno

[foxdog1923]

Yeah maybe more ambitious BUT!! I would love to watch those fights. Joshua would instantly become a champion of the people.

Not if he got battered.

Stiverne gets kod. Pulev I see Joshua outclassiNg. Parker could possibly upset him but Im a Parker fan. Haye I see putting on a "this is easy" show and if Hayes allowed to have things his way, I can see him winning a points decision. In saying that Joshua can undoubtedly knock any of those guys out!

[keirw]

So it appears to have been narrowed down to either Parker, Stiverne or Pulev.

I'd be happy with any of those three;
Stiverne is past his best but is tough and experienced and might take him the distance.

Parker may be relatively unproven but his decision win over Takam is better (on paper) than anything Joshua has done thus far. Good fight.

Pulev is a dangerous fight as he is a very skillful boxer, but lacks power and may not be able to keep Joshua off him over twelve.

[dbf]

parker fightibg dimetrenko in oct so he wont be ready for the end of the year. all signs suggest stiverne.

[Rob3_142]

Agreed. Looking likely to be one of Stiverne and Pulev now. Might even be in the States yet, which would suggest that it would be Stiverne. Happy with that.

Reports suggest Stiverne is already in camp, which means if it is him, he could be getting himself in good shape (as opposed to his last outing), suggesting he's taking this bout very seriously.

[foxdog1923]

Agreed. Looking likely to be one of Stiverne and Pulev now. Might even be in the States yet, which would suggest that it would be Stiverne. Happy with that.

Reports suggest Stiverne is already in camp, which means if it is him, he could be getting himself in good shape (as opposed to his last outing), suggesting he's taking this bout very seriously.

It's a title shot, there's no doubt Stirverne will be taking this fight seriously. It'll be interesting to see how he goes against Joshua and no doubt we'll be hearing comparisons of how Wilder performed against Stirverne.

[Rob3_142]

It's a title shot, there's no doubt Stirverne will be taking this fight seriously. It'll be interesting to see how he goes against Joshua and no doubt we'll be hearing comparisons of how Wilder performed against Stirverne.

The only downside to Stiverne is he has only fought the once in the last 18 months, and that included a really soft performance against Derric Rossy, eventually limping to a points victory.

But if he gets his head screwed on, gets on a good camp, it could be the best fight of Joshua's career. There will be inevitable comparisons to Wilder, which I think is fine, but if Joshua does blow him out inside 3 rounds (I don't believe he will), then it'll just be another ripple in the division.

[crusader]

Stiverne was officially dropped for the first time in his career last fight, against a guy who isn't a noted puncher, and with age, inactivity, and the wear of the beatdown he endured against Wilder, I think he's ripe to be stopped heavily and possibly early by AJ.

Wilder actually hurt Stiverne fairly easily, but as is his wont the attempted finishing barrages were crude and imprecise, which helped Stiverne get through some torrid moments. AJ has much tighter punches in bunches than Wilder and picks his shots better when opponents are in trouble, and at this point I think he could produce a result that compares favorably to Wilder's, thereby furthering his reputation as a beast. So to me Stiverne makes a lot of sense.

Pulev would be a sensible opponent too, as he's a credible top ten guy, but one with a set of attributes that doesn't seem to make him a big risk. If Joshua is going to fight either one of them next I think he's being moved in the right direction.

[lillywhite14]

The Haye fight won't happen. As it stands, apart from being a domestic "rival", he holds no cards at all. He hasn't nor will beat anyone of any note any time soon, and frankly there's more deserving fighters out there.

People cite the big money domestic angle...Joshua makes big money fighting anyone.

Stiverne, Parker, Fury/Wlad. I reckon that's his next 3

[Stuarty]

The Haye fight won't happen. As it stands, apart from being a domestic "rival", he holds no cards at all. He hasn't nor will beat anyone of any note any time soon, and frankly there's more deserving fighters out there.

People cite the big money domestic angle...Joshua makes big money fighting anyone.

Stiverne, Parker, Fury/Wlad. I reckon that's his next 3

What about Pulev? Is he not near the top of the IBF rankings?

[Rob3_142]

Yeah Pulev is second in the rankings at the moment, so a definite possibility in the next 12 months. Hearn has already alluded to the fact that Parker, Stiverne and Pulev being at the top of the wish list, however with Parker scheduled to meet Dimitrenko in October, probably means it's one of Stiverne and Pulev.

I agree that Haye needs to do more to earn his shot, probably needs to fight 1-2 top ten fighters, but we both know he won't. I think Joshua can make big money whoever he fights, but a Wembley fight in the summer of '17 would be massive. The former world champ and very big domestic name makes it mouthwatering from a marketing perspective, but at the moment for me Haye's credibility is low.

[Horse]

I agree that Haye needs to do more to earn his shot, probably needs to fight 1-2 top ten fighters, but we both know he won't.

Why should Haye have to prove himself more than the champion?

[jamesmcdonnell]

I agree that Haye needs to do more to earn his shot, probably needs to fight 1-2 top ten fighters, but we both know he won't.

Why should Haye have to prove himself more than the champion?

Because he's the challenger?

[Horse]

Because he's the challenger?

Generally champions should be more proven than their challengers.

They are meant to be the best.

[Rob3_142]

Because he's the challenger?

Generally champions should be more proven than their challengers.

They are meant to be the best.

Well if you're using that logic, Joshua would just fight his mandatory each time.

[Horse]

Well if you're using that logic, Joshua would just fight his mandatory each time.

In what way is that using my logic?

[Anzi]

Izuagbe Ugonoh 16-0, 13 ko's, born in Poland, residence Las Vegas, as fought several times in New Zealand, fast hands, athletic, throws plenty of punches, good movement, looks a handful, he would beat Parker now, his work rate would make it a good fight with Joshua. https://www.facebook.com/21377112229372 ... age_bubble

[Tuan_Jim]

Izuagbe Ugonoh, a Polish fighter, boxed a Mexican in New Zealand for the WBO's African heavyweight title.

Read that over a couple of times.

[jamesmcdonnell]

Izuagbe Ugonoh 16-0, 13 ko's, born in Poland, residence Las Vegas, as fought several times in New Zealand, fast hands, athletic, throws plenty of punches, good movement, looks a handful, he would beat Parker now, his work rate would make it a good fight with Joshua. https://www.facebook.com/21377112229372 ... age_bubble

Like the look of what I see there, high workrate, fast hands, and excellent punch placement. Would definitely like to see him get into the mix. Big unit too, but very athletic with it. Can see him going far, of course hard to base it on just a few clips, but offensively he looks better than Joshua to me, more variety, and better combination punching, also better balance.

[jamesmcdonnell]

Izuagbe Ugonoh 16-0, 13 ko's, born in Poland, residence Las Vegas, as fought several times in New Zealand, fast hands, athletic, throws plenty of punches, good movement, looks a handful, he would beat Parker now, his work rate would make it a good fight with Joshua. https://www.facebook.com/21377112229372 ... age_bubble

Like the look of what I see there, high workrate, fast hands, and excellent punch placement. Would definitely like to see him get into the mix. Big unit too, but very athletic with it. Can see him going far, of course hard to base it on just a few clips, but offensively he looks better than Joshua to me, more variety, and better combination punching, also better balance.

Lovely double/triple jab as well, don't see too many heavyweights, or fighters full stop using that these days. I'm very impressed.