Newly-crowned Anthony Joshua (16-0, 16 KO) will be back in the ring on June 25th, making the first defense of his IBF Heavyweight title. London’s O2 Arena will play host once again. Promoter Eddie Hearn is currently optioning a bunch of American challengers, likely in a bid to secure highly lucrative, long-term deals with US TV networks.
After Joshua destroyed Charles Martin in two rounds earlier this month, big hitters HBO and Showtime are said to be very interested in picking up Joshua’s future scraps. Hearn, who heads UK powerhouse Matchroom Boxing, has mentioned the likes of Bermane Stiverne, Eric Molina and Dominic Breazeale as challengers who could get the call. Given the current Heavyweight landscape, and the fact Joshua has only just completed fight number sixteen, all of these fighters have earned the right to be in there, but, if it was up to fight fans, the undefeated Dominic Breazeale would probably get the nod.
Stiverne (25-2-1, 21 KO) was once considered quite the beast at Heavyweight, but that was before he got soundly outworked by Deontay Wilder last January and returned with a disappointing points win over Derric Rossy in November. Molina (25-3, 19 KO) isn’t a terrible fighter but is levels below Joshua; Molina was mostly owned en route to getting wiped out by Wilder last June before taking out an aging Tomasz Adamek earlier this month. Breazeale (17-0, 15 KO) is a total prospect and hasn’t looked exceptional against veterans Fred Kassi and Amir Mansour most recently, but is at least improving.
So why is Breazeale the best candidate for Anthony Joshua? Well, for the simple fact that he’s undefeated, has some good skills, decent power, and is a tall order standing at 6’ 7” (Joshua is 6′ 6″). For the record, Molina is 6’ 4” and Stiverne 6’ 2”. Really, that’s about all there is. While I don’t want to get too comfortable on the ‘Joshua hype train’, it seems likely Joshua is capable of trumping – and probably crushing – all of the aforementioned names. We’ll soon see who gets the call.
Anthony Joshua vs Tyson Fury Next?
What of the blockbuster showdowns against the likes of fellow Brits Tyson Fury and David Haye? Well, both men are on Hearn and Joshua’s radars, but it looks like Fury could be targeted first.
“I think the next fight after June 25th could be Tyson Fury,” Hearn told Sky Sports. “David Haye is a big fight. There is no real carrot with a David Haye fight, other than it’s a huge fight with a load of money to be made. I think Anthony Joshua wants the belts, he wants to unify the division. To do that, you have to beat Tyson Fury. We feel like Tyson Fury is a much easier fight than David Haye.”
Would Fury (25-0, 18 KO), who cleared out Wladimir Klitschko’s trophy cabinet last November, be the easier man to beat? Well, it seems likely given Joshua probably wouldn’t show him half the respect Klitschko did, but it’s just too early to say. If a Fury vs Joshua encounter is to happen later this year, or perhaps in early 2017, both men will have to firstly get by their upcoming defenses. Joshua will of course be back against a yet-to-be-named opponent in June, but Fury will find himself in a much riskier fight with ol’ Klitschko once again in their July 9th rematch.
So, who should Anthony Joshua fact next in June? And what of Joshua potentially being fast-tracked to face Tyson Fury in fight number eighteen in the near future? The right time or simply too soon?
