Anthony Joshua’s sixth-round stoppage win over Otto Wallin has failed to allow him to inherit his #2 ranking spot in the IBF heavyweight rankings. The IBF keeps the #2 spot open, while Joshua stays put at #3 and Filip Hrgovic at #1.
No Shortcut to the Top
What this could all mean is if the IBF title is vacated or stripped from the winner of the February 17th fight between IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk and WBC champ Tyson Fury, Joshua would then face Hrgovic, and then the winner of that fight faces another opponent for the vacant IBF belt.
In other words, it would be more step to the IBF crown for the Hrgovic-Joshua winner, which makes sense because the way it’s being lined up now, it looks almost like AJ is being given the IBF title without having to do a lot of hard work to earn it.
Joshua hasn’t been maneuvered into the slot to fight for the IBF title without having to take any difficult opponents to grind it out the way regular heavyweights must do. The long and short of it is that Joshua must earn the IBF title this time and not have it basically given to him like it was in 2016 when he fought Charles Martin, a weak champion.
Earning IBF Title, the Hard Way
The #3 Joshua vs. #1 Hrgovic winner could face #4 Joseph Parker for the vacant IBF title unless the New Zealander refuses or is beaten on the March 8th card in Saudi Arabia, which is likely if he faces Zhilei Zhang. If Parker doesn’t take the fight, #5 IBF Jared Anderson would be the next up. He would be a difficult fight for Joshua, who hasn’t faced anyone like that in years, and you could imagine the kicking & screaming AJ’s promoter Eddie Hearn would do if he was forced to fight Anderson.
It makes sense for the IBF to have kept the #2 spot vacant because Joshua should not have been allowed to inherit it automatically with his win over Otto Wallin, as that move was too crafted, allowing AJ to take the spot without fighting one of the dangerous contenders in the IBF’s rankings.
Making Joshua actually earn the title shot by beating Hrgovic, Parker & Anderson makes more sense and gives meaning to being the IBF champion. Whoever emerges from these fights will be seen as a real champion, not a fighter who was maneuvered into the belt by cunning rather than sweat & hard work.