By Tim Royner:Amir Khan has some very logical advice to IBF/WBA heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua (20-0, 20 KOs) and that’s for him to fight in the U.S in his next fight in the summer of 2018 after the Joseph Parker (24-0, 18 KOs) match on March 31st, so that he can build up his unification match with WBC heavyweight champion Deontay ‘Bronze Bomber’ Wilder (39-0, 38 KOs).
Joshua-Wilder is not going to be as big a fight in the U.S right now due to Joshua not being well known to the casual boxing fans. Joshua’s previous fights that have been shown in the U.S were fights that were shown earlier in the early evening against Dominic Breazeale and Eric Molina.
Joshua vs. Wilder will be a hard fight to negotiate. Wilder wants a 50-50 purse split, and Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn feels he’s not worth anything close to 50 percent. If that fight can’t get made in 2018, then Joshua will face Alexander Povetkin and possibly Jarrell Miller, provided that he gets past Parker on March 31. Those fights against Povetkin and Miller won’t do much to increase Joshua’s popularity in the U.S, as those are not well known fighters with the casual fans.
Joshua’s contest against the aging 41-year-old Wladimir Klitschko was not viewed as a positive performance because AJ looked so bad against an older, inactive fighter coming off of a loss and a 2-year layoff. It was a terrible performance against a ring rusty old fighter in Klitschko. Joshua could have easily have lost the fight to Wladimir. Khan doesn’t say who he thinks Joshua should fight in the U.S to help build up the fight against the 6’7” Deontay Wilder. Guys like Dillian Whyte and Alexander Povetkin would be a waste of time, because they’re not household names in the U.S.
”That’s a fight people want to see in America, they are already talking about AJ. I think he should go there,” Khan said to skysports.com. ”If he wants to make a big name, I think he might want to fight there first. “He will build his name up, he will get a good knockout against some up and coming fighter, and then he will be ready,” Khan said.
It sounds like a good thing for Joshua to do, but it’s unlikely to happen because he would make a little less money due to the fight not taking place in a huge venue like it would if he were competing in front of 80,000 boxing fans in a stadium Cardiff, Wales. Joshua can’t do that in the U.S, because boxing fans wouldn’t turn out in those kinds of numbers to fight an obscure heavyweight from Great Britain.
Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn wants him to make as much money possible every time out, and the best way for him to do that is to keep him in the UK fighting in stadiums. Joshua would have to be willing to make an investment to building the Deontay Wilder fight by competing in the U.S for likely less money against someone like Jarrell ‘Big Baby’ Miller for him to make a fight with the 32-year-old Wilder a bigger one. Hearn probably won’t make that move. For that reason, Joshua-Wilder won’t be nearly as big in the U.S compared to the UK, because Joshua won’t have built his name up by fighting in the States.
Khan will be fighting Canadian Phil Lo Greco (28-3, 15 KOs) on April 21 in his comeback fight on Sky Sports at the Echo Arena in Liverpool, England. Khan, 31, is looking to build up to a big clash against former IBF welterweight champion Kell ‘Special K’ Brook for the end of 2018 in the UK on Sky Box Office. Both fighters need to keep winning until they meetup. It’s now or never for Brook and Khan. If they lose before they face each other, their fight won’t be as big.