Heavyweight Division

[justafan]

(12-08-2020, 04:14 PM)diehard Wrote:

(12-08-2020, 03:45 PM)justafan Wrote: That's the game they play... plenty of people overseas would have said the same thing about Parker when he was first ranked for beating has and never beens

True, but Parker didn't get KO'd twice.

Fair point! 

[diehard]

14 MINUTES AGO
ALBIEREDMORE

Who will Anthony Joshua’s next opponent be?
The expectation is that Anthony Joshua will fight Tyson Fury in 2021 as part of a two-fight deal being brokered between Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Sport and Fury’s promoter Bob Arum.

Where will the first fight take place?
It seems almost certain that the first leg of Joshua vs Fury will happen in Saudi Arabia, and it seems most likely that this will be Joshua’s next engagement.

Are there any complicating factors?
Of course, because this is heavyweight boxing. Joshua may have a mandatory obligation first. He had to fight Pulev as he was the IBF mandatory challenger; Joshua also holds the WBA and WBO titles and the WBO’s mandatory challenger would be Oleksandr Usyk.

Will Joshua fight Usyk first?
Probably not. Usyk is also managed by Hearn and there is a possibility that Joshua could fight him before or after the first Fury fight, if Fury also wants a tune-up engagement prior to or between the two Joshua fights. The other option for Joshua is that he vacates the WBO title, making way for his stablemate.

Usyk is a dangerous customer, a southpaw, and Joshua would not be able to take him lightly. He's small and has come up from cruiserweight so AJ should be able to bully him, but Usyk is a talented boxer.

Eddie Hearn explains the Usyk situation...
“If we get the Fury fight made, we are going to be applying to the WBO to make that undisputed and if they say no we have to go to Usyk and try to make a deal. If we can't make the Fury fight for any reason, then we will fight Usyk 100 per cent. They're kind of waiting to see what happens."

What obligations does Tyson Fury have?
No mandatory but there is still an ongoing situation with Deontay Wilder. Although it seems unlikely that Wilder could get in the way of Joshua and Fury there is a possibility of the Wilder-Fury trilogy fight in the spring in which cases Joshua might take on Usyk.

What are the experts saying?
Carl Froch: “AJ might fancy fighting Usyk, rather than take the Fury fight next, and maybe build up to the Fury fight even more.”

Johnny Nelson: “Purely from a business side, I can see AJ saying, "No I don't need that, this is a bigger fight." If the Tyson Fury fight is in touching distance, and it's either Fury or Usyk, then the business decision would be to give the WBO belt up. I think the chances of Usyk fighting Joshua next are slim.”

Adam Smith: “Having spoken to them both individually, they (Joshua and Tyson) both want the fight, they want it desperately, and they want it next. Look, it’s up to Eddie and the promoters to get together and iron this out and actually make the [Joshua-Fury] fight happen. There are some complications. Oleksandr Usyk is the mandatory challenger, and Deontay Wilder and that situation over there as well"

[diehard]

yson Fury: Joshua Just Sh-t Himself Live On TV; I'll Knock Him Out Inside 3 Rounds!
By Keith Idec Published On Sat Dec 12, 2020, 07:55 PM EST
Anthony Joshua didn’t sound to Tyson Fury like someone who wants to fight him next.

Fury responded Saturday night to Joshua’s post-fight interview with Sky Sports by questioning Joshua’s willingness to fight him as soon as possible in 2021. The unbeaten WBC heavyweight champion mocked Joshua’s comments following his impressive ninth-round knockout of Kubrat Pulev in a video Fury released on Instagram and Twitter.

“Well, there you go, everyone,” Fury said. “Anthony Joshua just sh-t his self live on television. He got asked did he want the fight, and he went around the bushes and put his ass in the edge. I want the fight! I want the fight next! I’ll knock him out inside three rounds! He’s a big bum dosser. Can’t wait to knock him out.”

Eddie Hearn, Joshua’s promoter, told Sky Sports after Joshua spoke that Joshua-Fury is the only fight they should consider making next. Hearn also called Joshua-Fury the biggest fight in British boxing history.

Joshua, however, seemed somewhat reluctant to even discuss facing Fury next.

“You ask the fans,” Joshua said. “I’m not asking the fans. You do it. That’s your job as a promoter for Sky. You ask the crowd what they wanna see. I’m up for anything. Look at the resume. You ask them. You ask. Give ‘em some names.”

The crowd, which was restricted to roughly 1,000 at Wembley Arena due to COVID-19 limitations, erupted when Sky Sports’ announcer replied by asking, “OK. Who wants to see Anthony Joshua box Tyson Fury in 2021?”

“That’s Eddie Hearn’s job,” Joshua said in reference to putting together the Fury fight. “That’s 258 Management’s job. Last year, right, 2019 – look, bro, I started this game in 2013. I’ve been chasing all the belts. I’ve been dealing with mandatories. Of course, I want a challenge. It’s not about the opponent. It’s about the legacy and the belt. Whoever’s got the belt, I’d love to compete with him. If that is Tyson Fury, let it be Tyson Fury. It’s no big deal.”

Their showdown would present the 31-year-old Joshua (24-1, 22 KOs) and the 32-year-old Fury (30-0-1, 21 KOs) with chances to become boxing’s undisputed heavyweight champion.

Joshua, of Watford, England, scored four knockdowns against Bulgaria’s Pulev (28-2, 14 KOs), two apiece in the third and ninth rounds of their scheduled 12-round fight for Joshua’s IBF, IBO, WBA and WBO titles. Their bout was stopped at 2:58 of the ninth round, after Joshua drilled Pulev with a picture-perfect right hand that knocked the mandatory challenger for Joshua’s IBF belt flat on his back.

Fury defeated Deontay Wilder (42-1-1, 41 KOs) by seventh-round technical knockout to win the WBC belt in his last fight, February 22 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Wilder wants the third fight he believes Fury is contractually obligated to grant him, but Fury and his team contend that the window within which that bout was supposed to take place has expired.

[diehard]

https://www.boxing247.com/boxing-news/g-4/166834

[diehard]

These journos are on crack or something. I thought AJ put on a masterful performance against an ordinary opponent:

https://www.boxing247.com/boxing-news/whyte-joshua-let-pulev-hang-around-longer-than-he-should-have/166837

[diehard]

Povetkin-Whyte rematch to be pushed back?

By Gabriel F. Cordero

Andrei Ryabinsky, promoter of WBC interim heavyweight champion Alexander Povetkin, has indicated that Povetkin will not be able to fight in the rematch against Dillian White on January 30 as planned.

“Alexander had to go to the hospital again to be examined. Days after he was discharged and now he had just started training. We will increase the workload in stages, under the supervision of doctors. For now, he looks like he won’t be able to fight White in January. We must face the consequences of the virus and we will not allow Povetkin’s health to be put at risk,” Ryabinsky told TASS.

Povetkin knocked out Whyte in September. A quick rematch was lined up for November, but the bout was postponed when Povetkin test positive for COVID.

[bart]

I think Povetkin may be finished
Whyte should loook at moving on

[diehard]

(12-16-2020, 09:54 AM)bart Wrote: I think Povetkin may be finished
Whyte should loook at moving on

Why? Covid? Age? Seemed to do well in his last outing. https://www.boxing247.com/boxing-news/heavyweight-news-povetkin-whyte-ii-delayed-indefinitely-chisora-wants-4-fights-in-2021/166901

[bart]

covid sounds like he on 2nd time round
May be pretty big ask to return to elite boxing

[diehard]

https://www.boxing247.com/boxing-news/dillian-whyte-wants-revenge-over-povetkin/167296