Anthony Joshua says he’s ready to fight the winner of the May 18th clash between heavyweight champions Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk.
It remains to be seen if Joshua will get the opportunity to fight the winner straightaway or if he’ll have to wait for a second fight between them, considering the loser could enforce the rematch clause.
Rematch Clause and Saudi Sway
The Saudis will decide because they can make it financially worthwhile for the Fury-Usyk loser to step aside to allow Joshua to battle the winner next.
It would be better for the boxing public if the Saudis insist on Joshua fighting whoever emerges from the May 18th fight between WBC champion Fury (34-0-1, 24 KOs) and IBF/WBA/WBO champ Usyk (21-0, 14 KOs) rather than making fans wait for the rematch to go down.
An immediate rematch would be unpopular with fans, especially if the May 18th fight is one-sided or dull. A fight between Fury and Usyk has ugly written all over it.
Fury vs. Usyk: Not a Fan-Favorite Matchup
The 35-year-old Fury is a simple mauler at this stage of his career, and he was never particularly entertaining to watch, even when he was younger.
His popularity is based more on his outside-of-the-ring hype than what he does in his fights. Usyk is a defensive fighter who moves and focuses on winning decisions.
Fury’s fans love to listen to him blabber about this and that, but his stuff doesn’t translate well to Americans, who focus more on his actual fights.
Putting those two heavyweight champions together is poison in terms of entertainment value, which is why the Saudis must insist on Joshua fighting the winner of the May 18th fight rather than having him wait until the rematch has taken place.
Also, Joshua is too flawed to be trusted to fight Filip Hrgovic while waiting for the rematch because the chances are high that he’ll get knocked out by the 2016 Olympian.
Joshua’s Path
AJ did his part last Friday night, stopping Francis Ngannou in the second round at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to put himself in position to battle the Fury-Usyk winner.
“Usyk and Fury, it’s really up to them. I’m only a phone call away, or even better, I’m only a tweet away. You can tweet me, and we can make the deal, so it will happen,” Anthony Joshua told Sky Sports News about being ready to face the winner of the May 18th undisputed heavyweight championship fight between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk.