BoxRec

Apologies if this has already been posted but I can't see it anywhere, just lots of threads with potential challengers. Who will AJ fight next? Does anyone know what the position is regarding mandatory challengers? I think the IBF give 12 months before insisting on a mandatory defence but what about the very strange WBA? Would a possible Klitschko rematch irk the IBF for example like it did for Fury?

Joshua will probably fight again in Autumn I'd imagine but will he have 2 more fights this year? I think at least twice a year he should be out but unless he takes a mandatory defence I can't see that happening this year. Another unification would be good but Wilder wants to unify with Parker to set up all the marbles for this time next year so who will be AJ's next opponent?

It'll be one of - Wlad, Wilder, Parker, Pulev or Ortiz.
Personally, I want to see the Wlad rematch.
I reckon they'll go for Pulev if Wlad retires...

There are a number of options, already listed on these 2 posts and none of them would disappoint me

I'd happily watch a re-run of last night, Wlad showed he was far from finished and could have stopped him. As long as there's no ridiculous delay, get it done

What is trying to talk up a rematch but I feel he should retire personally.

AJ needs to unify the division now, Parker and Wilder should be his next two fights.

After that (if he has lost the weight by then) has to be Fury.

keirw wrote:What is trying to talk up a rematch but I feel he should retire personally.

AJ needs to unify the division now, Parker and Wilder should be his next two fights.

After that (if he has lost the weight by then) has to be Fury.

Both Wilder and Parker are chasing the Bellew fight, to rise their profiles over here I would imagine.
Pulev and Ortiz are most likely if Wlad retires.
Pulev being the easier of the 2 I see being Joshuas opponent in mid-July...

keirw wrote:What is trying to talk up a rematch but I feel he should retire personally.

AJ needs to unify the division now, Parker and Wilder should be his next two fights.

After that (if he has lost the weight by then) has to be Fury.

On the money.

All HW roads lead to Joshua at the moment & everyone will want a piece of him.

He should definitely look at removing the likes of Parker & Wilder from the equation, so that there aren't any other 'recognised' trinket holders walking around calling themselves HW Champion of the World.

It would be fitting if he could defend all the trinkets against Fury, in a scenario similar to 1988 when 'undisputed' champion Mike Tyson took on the real & linear champ, Michael Spinks.

The ball is in Fury's court though, as he will have to get himself back into shape & also prove that he is worthy of fighting at the highest level again.

If the rematch doesn't happen it will be Pulev or Ortiz.

I can see Wilder v Bellew on the undercard in Cardiff to set up a possible unification next year.

Not sure where Parker fits in at the moment. Will the Hughie Fury fight be rescheduled?

Does anyone else think the Furys are serving a silent ban at the moment? Starting to look likely to me.

keirw wrote:What is trying to talk up a rematch but I feel he should retire personally.

AJ needs to unify the division now, Parker and Wilder should be his next two fights.

After that (if he has lost the weight by then) has to be Fury.

Agree with this, would be amazing if Hearn could pull it off but I can't see it for some reason! Parker and Wilder will maybe get awkward now that they know how big the earning potential is for a fight with AJ. All roads lead to Fury and the Ring/Lineal titles but realistically that is at the very least a year away given the shape Fury is in and his problems outside the ring? I can see a Wilder/Parker unification and then the winner vs AJ for all the belts and that would be massive! If Wlad decides he wants to rematch Joshua the same scenario could apply i.e. all the belts on the line.

AJ should mug Wilder and Parker before anyone else can snatch their belts. The machine is behind him and he should exploit it.

Klitschko at his age I don't think can ever get himself up for such a monumental performance. He's had his time.

Haye must be rueing the day he cobbled together that Bellew farce. With his name and status he could have leapfrogged them all and bagged a summer superfight. Instead he's festering on the scrapheap.

If AJ can snatch up all the belts sharpish a fight between him and Tyson Fury would probably surpass even the 90,000 crowd.

Poor Luis Ortiz.

Tuan_Jim wrote:AJ should mug Wilder and Parker before anyone else can snatch their belts. The machine is behind him and he should exploit it.

Klitschko at his age I don't think can ever get himself up for such a monumental performance. He's had his time.

Haye must be rueing the day he cobbled together that Bellew farce. With his name and status he could have leapfrogged them all and bagged a summer superfight. Instead he's festering on the scrapheap.

If AJ can snatch up all the belts sharpish a fight between him and Tyson Fury would probably surpass even the 90,000 crowd.

Poor Luis Ortiz.

True but he's a money man and a Bellew rematch is very lucrative

Finn wrote:

Tuan_Jim wrote:AJ should mug Wilder and Parker before anyone else can snatch their belts. The machine is behind him and he should exploit it.

Klitschko at his age I don't think can ever get himself up for such a monumental performance. He's had his time.

Haye must be rueing the day he cobbled together that Bellew farce. With his name and status he could have leapfrogged them all and bagged a summer superfight. Instead he's festering on the scrapheap.

If AJ can snatch up all the belts sharpish a fight between him and Tyson Fury would probably surpass even the 90,000 crowd.

Poor Luis Ortiz.

True but he's a money man and a Bellew rematch is very lucrative

Aye but the inability to budge Bellew has taken all the sheen off a Joshua fight. Who cares about David Haye anymore? Who was missing the days of Haye vs Valuev, Audley, Klit and the Dave pantomimes last night?

Isn't pulev the ibf mandatory? And has been told that aj must fight him next?

I wonder if that will put a spanner in any unification.

If i was Parker i would be on the phone to eddie today wanting it for late july/august time. He has a walkover fight next week and can go straight into a massive unification.

Parker & Wilder will price themselves out of the fight just now, as both know they are getting pulverised & Will want to pick up some more bucks defending their trinkets first...

Wlad, after such a hellish & brutal knockout at the age of 41 is not coming back from that... but I bet he wants the rematch because like virtually all big-time heavyweights, he will fancy it one more time, believing he can somehow roll back the years, as they all do. And for that reason, and another massive crowd and worldwide TV I imagine hearn is going to snap it up.

Pulev would probably be a nice warm up for it, probably in the autumn.

Fury ? Forget it, he's all talk and no trousers lately, it will be a long time till he busts a gut to get back in shape I think. The drugs may have a hold over him for a while yet, in all senses.

Tuan_Jim wrote:.

Haye must be rueing the day he cobbled together that Bellew farce.

With his name and status he could have leapfrogged them all and bagged a summer superfight. Instead he's festering on the scrapheap.
.

Mmmm.

Karma.

Pulev is mandatory
WBA have given a voluntary before Ortiz

Makes pulev fight much more easy to make

Wilder fight will AJ in 2018

cold187 wrote:Pulev is mandatory
WBA have given a voluntary before Ortiz

Makes pulev fight much more easy to make

Wilder fight will AJ in 2018

Fast Car will have big time sleep deprivation by then! Dealing with other promoters and all the governing bodies will be hell on earth.

I expect Hearn to go afterParker for late this year. Even though the IBF are usually very firm with mandatories, I highly doubt they will be in a hurry to strip Joshua with the type of Nos he's generating so if he doesn't want to fight Pulev yet I think they will accommodate him.

Probably a Wlad rematch. Wlad will likely want the rematch, and he's got a rematch clause in the contract apparently so if Wlad wants it that's what it'll be.

What's next? A group sex session with Eddie Hearn, Stormzy and his entourage?

Manchester Hitman wrote:I expect Hearn to go afterParker for late this year. Even though the IBF are usually very firm with mandatories, I highly doubt they will be in a hurry to strip Joshua with the type of Nos he's generating so if he doesn't want to fight Pulev yet I think they will accommodate him.

They didn't give that chance to Fury

Manchester Hitman wrote:I expect Hearn to go afterParker for late this year. Even though the IBF are usually very firm with mandatories, I highly doubt they will be in a hurry to strip Joshua with the type of Nos he's generating so if he doesn't want to fight Pulev yet I think they will accommodate him.

Ruthless-RKO wrote:

Manchester Hitman wrote:I expect Hearn to go afterParker for late this year. Even though the IBF are usually very firm with mandatories, I highly doubt they will be in a hurry to strip Joshua with the type of Nos he's generating so if he doesn't want to fight Pulev yet I think they will accommodate him.

They didn't give that chance to Fury

Yeah that won't go down well with Team Fury but money talks and bullshit walks I guess

ewenhay wrote:If the rematch doesn't happen it will be Pulev or Ortiz.

I can see Wilder v Bellew on the undercard in Cardiff to set up a possible unification next year.

Not sure where Parker fits in at the moment. Will the Hughie Fury fight be rescheduled?

Does anyone else think the Furys are serving a silent ban at the moment? Starting to look likely to me.

I have no idea why people like yourself think that such big fights will be on any undercard of a Matchroom show??
There is zero chance of Wilder v Bellew being an undercard fight, zero

Pulev is a tough sell but I imagine he's next unless Joshua wants to vacate the IBF belt.

Tough sell because the average punter hasn't heard of him, and when you look his record up, you see he's lost to the guy Joshua just beat, and just went the distance with a has-been that Joshua destroyed. Pulev is better than that, but its a tough sell.

Without reading any other posts, I think Hearn should do Pulev later this year, with Parker vs Bellew. I'd love it to be on the same night but I doubt it. I'd definitely do them within a week of each other though, or a month!

JimJim2009 wrote:Pulev is a tough sell but I imagine he's next unless Joshua wants to vacate the IBF belt.

Tough sell because the average punter hasn't heard of him, and when you look his record up, you see he's lost to the guy Joshua just beat, and just went the distance with a has-been that Joshua destroyed. Pulev is better than that, but its a tough sell.

Eddie's the master at selling though, so all he has to say is, AJ loses his belt if he does t fight this guy, and this guy ain't no slouch. He's like Top 5 in the division with no Haye, Fury or Povetkin.