Anthony Joshua could fight for a world title as soon as September after Oleksandr Usyk is stripped of one of his belts.
The Ukrainian became the first undisputed heavyweight king in 25 years with his thrilling points victory over Tyson Fury in Saudi Arabia on Saturday. Fury’s team has indicated he will take the rematch, which is planned for October, back in Riyadh. In that case, it is unlikely that all four belts would be on the line again, with the IBF set to strip Usyk of their title for not fighting number one contender, currently Filip Hrgovic, the Croatian who is due to fight Britain’s Daniel Dubois in Riyadh on June 1.
Eddie Hearn, Joshua’s promoter, reckons it is unlikely Usyk will be stripped of the IBF strap in time for that belt to be on the line in Hrgovic vs Dubois. However, it could be on the line when Joshua potentially faces the winner of that bout at Wembley in September.
“He can step in and fight anybody,” Hearn told Boxing News on Thursday. “But if the rematch takes place, it’s very likely that AJ fights the winner of Hrgovic-Dubois. We’ll see what happens, anything is possible.”
Meanwhile, Fury’s promoter, Frank Warren, still expects the rematch to go ahead as well. He said: “There will be a rematch and that will be confirmed and announced in due course.
Asked why Fury would win the rematch, Warren said: “He’s a fighting man, it’s what he brings to the ring. He’s been caught a couple of times in his last couple of fights but he gets up and shows what he’s made of.
“I don’t want to see that happen. But like Usyk, he’s very similar, they’re very cute guys who know their boxing and I have confidence in Tyson. That fight has taken a lot out of both of them so we will see.”
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