ANTHONY JOSHUA is well and truly back in the heavyweight title picture.
The Watford warrior continued his career resurgence early on Sunday morning with a ferocious finish of Francis Ngannou in Saudi Arabia.
Joshua, 34, knocked the former UFC heavyweight champion out cold in the second round with a hellacious overhand right moments after a beautiful knockdown that came courtesy of a right-hand left-hook combination.
Attention has now turned to who AJ will face next following his demolition of Ngannou, with fans clamouring for him to fight Brit rival Tyson Fury.
But The Gypsy King has the small matter of undisputed and unified title fights with former pound-for-pound king Oleksandr Usyk to think about before the long-overdue Battle of Britain can come to fruition.
Former two-time unified champion Joshua could very well choose to sit and wait for the winner of the Fury vs Usyk series.
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But given the fact he’s found his groove with four fights in 11 months, it’s likely he won’t want to sit and twiddle his thumbs on the sidelines.
So with that in mind, SunSport thought it’d only be right to reveal the five fighters in contention to be his next opponent.
Filip Hrgovic
Croatian clubber Filip Hrgovic is currently the mandatory challenger for the IBF heavyweight title in possession of Usyk.
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The IBF are set to mandate the winner of Fury and Usyk’s May 18 melee to defend the belt against the Croat, although that fight won’t come to fruition as the pair are contractually obliged to have back-to-back bouts.
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That means the winner of Fury vs Usyk is set to be STRIPPED of the title for Hrgovic to vie for it.
Joshua is ranked No3 in the IBF rankings, meaning the IBF will order Hrgovic to fight him for the brown belt should they decide to relieve either Fury or Usyk of the strap.
Joseph Parker
Former WBO heavyweight champion Joseph Parker has well and truly rebuilt himself following his crushing loss to Joe Joyce in September 2022.
The Kiwi has rattled off five wins on the bounce, including one of former WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder.
His decision win over China’s Zhilei Zhang – in which he claimed the interim WBO title – has proved he’s not the spent force many thought he was nearly two years ago.
So if AJ wants a good test to keep himself sharp, a rematch with Parker – who he beat six years ago – would make perfect sense.
Dillian Whyte
AJ was set to renew his rivalry with Dillian Whyte last August before the Brixton Body Snatcher tested positive for a banned substance for the third time in his career.
Whyte – who maintained his innocence from the get-go – was recently cleared of any wrongdoing by the Texas Department of Licencing and Regulation
Provided he wins his fight against Christian Hammer next weekend, and, more importantly, gets cleared by the British Boxing Board of Control to compete, he could potentially be in line for a third showdown with Joshua.
Daniel Dubois
Another domestic dust-up potentially in the offing for Joshua is one with Daniel Dubois.
Triple D is set to fill the Brit heavyweight void when Joshua and Fury eventually call it a day – despite his ups and downs.
The 26-year-old came up short in his first world title fight with Usyk last August but bounced back from that defeat with a sensational stoppage of Jarrell Miller a few months later.
Dubois still has a long way to go to put himself back in the orbit of a world title but would be a more than satisfactory opponent for AJ to keep himself busy with.
Deontay Wilder
Vicious knockout artist Wilder was supposed to have been the man standing opposite Joshua this weekend for the first of what would have been a two-fight series.
But the former long-reigning WBC champ blew their £100million bouts with a stinker of a performance against Parker in Riyadh last December.
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Fight fans around the world mourned the loss of one of the biggest grudge matches in the sport after Parker had his hand raised.
But Joshua has refused to close the door on sharing the ring with the American – a statement which will be music to the ears of The Bronze Bomber.
Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
