ANTHONY JOSHUA

Joshua’s next opponent ‘leaked’

Anthony Joshua will not be fighting Tyson Fury or Oleksandr Usyk next, according to his good friend Derek Chisora.

Former two-time world champion Joshua was promised a shot at the undisputed world titles following his brutal KO win against Francis Ngannou last month. Fury and Usyk fight for all four heavyweight belts next month and their fight has a two-way rematch clause, meaning they will likely meet again later this year regardless of the result.

Queensbury Promotions are hosting a Wembley Stadium event later this year and Chisora claims Joshua will be headlining the card. “He will fight the winner of Daniel Dubois and [Filip] Hrgovic in Wembley. F*** it, I’ve got a big mouth. That’s the plan. It’s gonna be a sick, a little adventure for Turki Alalshikh to bring it back to London,” Chisora told iFL TV.

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A fight between Dubois and Hrgovic will likely take place on the undercard of Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol’s undisputed clash in Saudi Arabia on June 1. It could be for the IBF world title if the organisation forces Fury or Usyk to fight their mandatory challenger Hrgovic. Another big heavyweight fight between Deontay Wilder and Zhilei Zhang, who both lost to Joseph Parker in their last fights, is also rumoured to take place on the card.

Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn thinks if Fury beats Usyk next month then a fight against Joshua will be made instead of a rematch with the Ukrainian. Fury’s promoter Frank Warren is adamant the two-fight undisputed deal will be honoured, delaying a potential Fury vs Joshua fight until March.

Hearn thinks Joshua is now the best heavyweight in the world after his stunning performance against Ngannou, which extended his unbeaten streak to four fights. Fury scoffed at the promoter’s claim by bringing up Joshua’s previous two losses to Usyk. “I’m sure that Oleksandr Usyk will have something to say about that given he beat him twice,” Fury said.

“For the actual real boxing, it’s me and Oleksandr Usyk who fight for the undisputed heavyweight world championship of the world. I had a s*** performance against Francis Ngannou, that’s what a boxer should have done with him, but if he fights next year it’ll be a different game.”