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"Anthony Joshua to be stripped of IBF title because of Wladimir Klitschko rematch, echoing Tyson Fury's fate"

• Anthony Joshua could be stripped of one of his newly-won belts
• Promoter Eddie Hearn says Joshua has 'no problem' giving up IBF world title
• A rematch with Wladimir Klitschko would see him drop the belt
• IBF insist mandatory challenger Kubrat Pulev must be his next opponent

Anthony Joshua could be stripped of one of his newly-won belts before his next fight, because of a rematch clause with Wladimir Klitschko.

But now he could have to give up the IBF title, just as Tyson Fury did after defeating Klitschko, because the federation has a mandatory challenger who he must fight next.

Fury was also stripped of the IBF belt, because he, like Joshua, had agreed to a rematch with Klitschko.

And Joshua would be happy to do the same, with a rematch prioritised over a bout with mandatory challenger Kubrat Pulev, according to promoter, and Sportsmail columnist, Eddie Hearn.

'We don't want to drop the IBF belt but if we have to we'll have no problem doing exactly that.

'We won't let boxing politics get in the way of AJ's progression. Ideally, we want all the belts but when you get close, it becomes difficult because of situations like this.

'This is not going away, the IBF always follow their rules just as they did with Fury.

Thoughts?

Glad they are taking this stance they did it to fury so rules shouldn't change, maybe get furys first fight back for the vacant title v pulev?

Then, they will get a much smaller sanctioning fee I would think. Pulev vs. whoever. How exciting.

Hearn and the IBF don't really go well together do they...

The IBF stinks.

Joshua should dump it in a trash can in front of the press.

Absolute joke. He should tell them to ram the belt up their arse.

Aj is doing the obvious. He's avoiding Golovkin. If Golovkin decided to move up to HW, he'd be AJ's IBF mandatory. These "little facts" are what Enlightened One omitted. He has a knack for omitting relevant information if it doesn't align with his viewpoint.

It was appalling against fury, and it's the same if it happens to Joshua.

Top fighters should avoid governing bodies that do this to them. Then the belt would be worthless

Situation is not the same. When Klitschko fought Fury Glazkov had to step aside to let them fight. So he was entitled for immediate shot. I have not heard Pulev been a mandatory in the waiting. If he is installed only now as a mandatory then there should be a way to make him step aside for one fight.

Didn't Pulev even get offered the Joshua fight for the end of last year and turn it down? Instead he's waited for Joshua to go into a massive fight with a rematch clause that gives him the chance of fighting for a vacant title.

That belt will come back over time, just let Wilder fight Pulev, I think it would be a close match, despite Pulev beïng way past his prime nowadays.

ElJefe wrote:Didn't Pulev even get offered the Joshua fight for the end of last year and turn it down? Instead he's waited for Joshua to go into a massive fight with a rematch clause that gives him the chance of fighting for a vacant title.

He was waiting to be made mandatory challenger so he would get paid more.

Very sensible.

He's bigger than the belts, he just sold out 90,000 at Wembley stadium, bin the belts and fight the best!

Joesph Parker was Anthony Joshua’s IBF mandatory challenger up until October, but vacated this position when he accepted an opportunity to capture the WBO title. Kubrat Pulev was immediately instated as the new IBF mandatory challenger.

Before the Klitschko-Joshua bout was agreed upon, both men knew that the winner of this bout would lose their IBF title if they didn’t face Kubrat Pulev next.

Anthony Joshua has held the IBF world heavyweight championship for more than a year and he hasn’t performed a mandatory defence of his title, so a very small part of me understands the reason why he would be stripped of his belt.

It would be slightly comical if the IBF ordered a fight between Kubrat Pulev and Carlos Takam for their vacant world title.

Can you imagine the likes of Pulev or Takam being considered as a “world champion”? In my eyes, it’s as bizarre as Charles Martin becoming the IBF world heavyweight champion due to Vyacheslav Glazkov’s freak injury.

Horse wrote:

ElJefe wrote:Didn't Pulev even get offered the Joshua fight for the end of last year and turn it down? Instead he's waited for Joshua to go into a massive fight with a rematch clause that gives him the chance of fighting for a vacant title.

He was waiting to be made mandatory challenger so he would get paid more.

Very sensible.

Oh fair enough then. I thought he became mandatory after he beat Del Boy last summer.

verlichte wrote: Before the Klitschko-Joshua bout was agreed upon, both men knew that the winner of this bout would lose their IBF title if they didn’t face Kubrat Pulev next.

Then it is exactly like Fury situation. In this case Joshua should try to convince Klitschko to let him have a Pulev defense. If he does it quickly it should not be a problem. That is if Klitschko wants the rematch at all.

Tarkus wrote:

verlichte wrote: Before the Klitschko-Joshua bout was agreed upon, both men knew that the winner of this bout would lose their IBF title if they didn’t face Kubrat Pulev next.

Then it is exactly like Fury situation. In this case Joshua should try to convince Klitschko to let him have a Pulev defense. If he does it quickly it should not be a problem. That is if Klitschko wants the rematch at all.

Eddie Hearn’s comments strongly suggest that if the IBF doesn’t cooperate and come to some sort of compromise, then he has no problem in allowing AJ to vacate his titles. We also know for certain, based on Anthony Joshua's passionate comments inside the Wembley Stadium ring (after the Klitschko fight), that he “couldn’t give a fúckíng shít about the titles” - he wants to “face the biggest name opponents for the biggest paydays” (his actual words).

verlichte wrote: We also know for certain, based on Anthony Joshua's passionate comments inside the Wembley Stadium ring (after the Klitschko fight), that he “couldn’t give a fúckíng shít about the titles” - he wants to “face the biggest name opponents for the biggest paydays” (his actual words).

I believe it's the usual bravado plus adrenalin right after the fight..

I agree with Joshua. Fight the best and make as much money as you can. Belts don't mean as much anymore. He will still have the WBA and IBO belts. I don't really care about unifying all the belts. The other heavyweight champs are not the best and that is the opinion of the majority. I would like to see the cruiserweight division unified because you have champions who are close in ability , but I don't care as much for the heavyweight division.

greg wrote:

verlichte wrote: We also know for certain, based on Anthony Joshua's passionate comments inside the Wembley Stadium ring (after the Klitschko fight), that he “couldn’t give a fúckíng shít about the titles” - he wants to “face the biggest name opponents for the biggest paydays” (his actual words).

I believe it's the usual bravado plus adrenalin right after the fight..

Plus he was talking about Ortiz.

Tarkus wrote:

greg wrote:

verlichte wrote: We also know for certain, based on Anthony Joshua's passionate comments inside the Wembley Stadium ring (after the Klitschko fight), that he “couldn’t give a fúckíng shít about the titles” - he wants to “face the biggest name opponents for the biggest paydays” (his actual words).

I believe it's the usual bravado plus adrenalin right after the fight..

Plus he was talking about Ortiz.

Wrong. Anthony Joshua was talking in general. He did not refer to any specific fighter.

greg wrote:

verlichte wrote: We also know for certain, based on Anthony Joshua's passionate comments inside the Wembley Stadium ring (after the Klitschko fight), that he “couldn’t give a fúckíng shít about the titles” - he wants to “face the biggest name opponents for the biggest paydays” (his actual words).

I believe it's the usual bravado plus adrenalin right after the fight..

Did he say that English are not f*cking around and he is ready to put his gloves back on and fight Wilder and Fury at the same time

It's like the IBF wants to be irrelivant.

verlichte wrote:

Tarkus wrote:

greg wrote: I believe it's the usual bravado plus adrenalin right after the fight..

Plus he was talking about Ortiz.

Wrong. Anthony Joshua was talking in general. He did not refer to any specific fighter.

He was referring to Ortiz son.. Read between the lines... Ortiz is the most dangerous and skilled Heavyweight in the world, but at 38 he's aging rapidly... The strategy should be to fight Wlad again.. Parker.. Fury.. Wilder.. and then Ortiz when AJ is much more skilled with 23 fights and Ortiz is really old. That way he has a much better chance of going 24-0 with 24 straight KO wins -- and there'll be a brand new crop of young killers invading the division.

RScarf1 wrote:Then, they will get a much smaller sanctioning fee I would think. Pulev vs. whoever. How exciting.

I believe Carlos Takam
Would be next in line..