ANTHONY JOSHUA should find out “in the coming days” who his next opponent will be.
The Brit is on cloud nine after getting his revenge against Andy Ruiz Jr at the weekend and wining back his heavyweight world titles.
Anthony Joshua is likely to face one, or both, of his mandatories nextCredit: Richard Pelham – The Sun
It was a masterful performance from the 30-year-old as he coasted to a wide-margin points win against the out-of-shape Mexican.
Thoughts immediately turned to who would be next for AJ, with IBF mandatory Kubrat Pulev believed to be the most likely.
But Oleksandr Usyk has moved up from cruiserweight and taken his WBO mandatory position with him, so is another option.
Now Sky Sports are reporting that the IBF and WBO chiefs will come together to discuss a way forward for both their fighters.
SECOND CHANCE FOR PULEV
The WBO have actually ordered Joshua to face Usyk within the next 180 days, but president Paco Valcarcel has accepted that “the first step” would be to discuss things with the IBF.
They are hoping Pulev gets his shot first.
The Bulgarian was scheduled to fight Joshua for all the belts back in October 2017, but he was forced to withdraw with a shoulder injury.
Carlos Takam stepped in and was stopped in the 10th round of what proved to be a tricky fight for Joshua who suffered a broken nose.
Matchroom boss and Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn revealed Usyk could face Derek Chisora in early March, before challenging the winner of Joshua vs Pulev.
This would mean the Ukrainian would face Joshua later in the year.
Joshua made it clear he wants to finally settle the score with WBC champion Deontay Wilder and domestic rival Tyson Fury.
But with the pair re-matching in February, and already signed for a trilogy afterwards, AJ said post-fight in Saudi he will deal with his mandatories before targeting the big two.
Kubrat Pulev is likely to be Anthony Joshua’s next opponentCredit: Getty
Oleksandr Usyk is the WBO mandatory challenger for the heavyweight titleCredit: AP:Associated Press
Anthony Joshua set to fight Kubrat Pulev next before facing Oleksandr Usyk, says Eddie Hearn
Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
