opinions---who will AJ fight 1st PULEV or

[dickbelden]

USYK ?

[tiny_acres]

AJ is not fighting Usyk anytime soon

[jamamb]

pulev or miller id guess, probably yet another top 10 opponent either way

[tiny_acres]

Top 3 prospects for 2019
Whyte
Pulev
Miller

In that order.

[jamamb]

oh ya whyte i forgot about him

[tiny_acres]

oh ya whyte i forgot about him

I figure if he beats Chisora he's next for AJ

[Enlightened-One]

Unless AJ chooses to engage in a title unification bout against the eventual winner of the Wilder-Fury fight, then he’ll be forced to continuously face his mandatory challengers.

And considering Oleksandr Usyk has never competed as a heavyweight, with his next bout being competed at cruiserweight, he’s not currently on Anthony Joshua’s radar.

AJ has just fulfilled his obligation to defend his WBA title, when he stopped Povetkin, he’s expected to perform a mandatory defence of his WBO title next and I assume that Pulev’s IBF title shot we happen immediately afterwards (perhaps towards the second half of next year).

Anthony Joshua competed twice during 2017 and 2018, which means that we should not expect to see a bout between the Brit and Oleksandr Usyk happen any earlier than late 2020.

[ValMar]

Whyte, likely......

[KiwiRider]

Since winning his first belt against the prince, AJ has been adamant that winning all the belts and keeping hold of them is his top goal.
So unless there is a unification with Wilder/Fury winner ( assuming Fury loses and there is no rematch) it's mandatory obligations first.
I also think that Miller will be built up a bit more before he gets a go at AJ. Maybe a fight in the UK first.
So given all of that, I expect Whyte next, maybe with Pulev or Miller on the undercard, then Pulev next, and then Miller or Usyk.

[ValMar]

Fury, Wilder and Usyk are the only fighters capable to defeat Joshua right now. Period.
Ortiz (several years younger), Dubois and Hrgović (in three or four years) might be the parts of story.
All other opponents (and the fights) are meaningless for me.

[DrDuke]

Whyte will probably handle Chisora this time. Yeah, I say "this time", cause I take his first Chisora fight as a robbery. Well, now Whyte looks better. He'll win Chisora, what will mean, that his will be still on the streak, no barriers for Joshua fight. Pulev is the second likely AJ's next opponent, as I see it. And Miller is after those two.

[ReggieDiggs]

Pulev is a mando for one of Joshua's belts now isn't he? I say him based on that.

Think Usyk is better & I think if Usyk can handle a HW punch he'll beat Joshua, but I don't think he's getting Joshua first. I'm not even sure Usyk is gonna get Joshua before Wilder does & I'm kinda leaning towards Joshua vs Wilder not happening til 2020.

[ReggieDiggs]

Fury, Wilder and Usyk are the only fighters capable to defeat Joshua right now. Period.
Ortiz (several years younger), Dubois and Hrgović (in three or four years) might be the parts of story.
All other opponents (and the fights) are meaningless for me.

I agree with your three up top as the most likely guys to take Joshua's 0. I do think I'd throw Ortiz in that mix although I'm curious how he looks post-Wilder L. And I think Big Baby Miller is another guy who could beat Joshua (or Wilder) too. He's a big mfer, his power is underrated (&/or Joshua's chin is overrated) & his stamina is nuts for a chubby dude.

I think I'd rank them 1)Wilder, 2)Fury, 3)Usyk, 4)Big Baby & 5)Ortiz as of right now today who'd be most likely to beat Joshua.

I find it a lil harder to speculate on prospects who might be able to beat Joshua years down the line & I definitely don't think Dubois or Hrgovic are close to being in line for that. I don't think Joshua will even be unbeaten by the time Dubois or Hrgovic get in the title shot line.

[ReggieDiggs]

Top 3 prospects for 2019
Whyte
Pulev
Miller

In that order.

Yea I'd tend to agree with that. Whyte is almost a lock to be #1. I think I might push Miller up to #2 cuz I feel like they (Matchroom) think Baby is softer/an easier win then he is.

[TheBeast]

Whoever generates more money... so the winner of Whyte and Chisora is highly rated.

[candyslim]

Almost certainly Whyte followed by Pulev assuming he gets past Chisora. Miller won't queue jump because he isn't anybody's mandatory challenger and juging from his less than demanding self-chosen career path, isn't ever likely to be.

I don't think Hearn or AJ will make the mistake of underestimating Miller but in case anybody hasn't been paying attention, the fact that an opponent can fight doesn't put Joshua off facing him in the ring. Luckily for Whyte else he'd be waiting a very long time.

[Onetimeonly]

No question his mandatory, pulev, would come before a fighter in a different weight class. Still holding out hope for wilder next.

[Enlightened-One]

Due to his allegiance with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Promotions and DAZN, I thoroughly expect to see Anthony Joshua make his debut on American soil against Jarrell 'Big Baby' Miller sometime during early 2020 as part of the Brit’s obligation to perform a mandatory defence of his WBA world title.

Miller is currently looking to acquire the vacant WBA 'regular' title by facing Fres Oquendo or Trevor Bryan, which he is targeting to be his next bout.

So it seems increasingly likely that AJ’s next four opponents will be Dillian Whyte, Kubrat Pulev, Jarrell Miller and possibly Deontay Wilder (assuming ‘The Bronze Bomber’ can successfully defend his WBC title against Tyson Fury), which will keep Joshua’s schedule pretty much tied up for the next two calendar years.

There isn’t enough interest in a bout between AJ and Usyk for any promoter to consider paying any of Joshua’s mandatory challengers huge step-aside fees, which means that none of us should expect Oleksandr to jump the queue ahead of fighters like Pulev and Whyte.

Any talk of Oleksandr Usyk being a potential opponent for Anthony Joshua is comically and preposterously premature. In fact, I’m not sure why people are suggesting that the undisputed cruiserweight champion is likely to jump the queue ahead of a mandatory challenger like Kubrat Pulev, considering the Ukraine isn’t even a heavyweight.