Anthony Joshua’s promoter, Eddie Hearn has told talkSPORT that his man will vacate one of his world titles if it means confirming a fight with Deontay Wilder or Tyson Fury later this year.
AJ is due to face IBF mandatory challenger, Kubrat Pulev in May/June, but wants the victor of his rivals’ February 22 rematch afterward.
However, he also has a WBO mandatory waiting in the form of Oleksandr Usyk and this could obstruct Joshua from fighting to become an ‘undisputed’ champion with all four belts.
Hearn told talkSPORT’s Will Gavin: “Basically if he wants to keep the belts, it has to be Pulev and then Usyk.
“So the belts are important, but so is the legacy. And at some point, if he has to drop a belt to get the Wilder vs Fury winner, then he will do it.
“Because really I think what the Ruiz fight showed us is that anything can happen at any moment.
“We tried to get the Wilder fight before. We had backward and forwards, ‘He said this, he said that.’
“But we didn’t do it and we nearly lost everything.
“And if it weren’t for AJ’s ability and persistence and will to win, to come back and beat Andy Ruiz–
“But now we’ve got it again. So we’ll be doing everything we can to move into the winner of that fight.”
Deontay Wilder thinks about Anthony Joshua’s next opponent, Kubrat Pulev
Anthony Joshua is almost certain to face Kubrat Pulev when he returns in May / June.
It is now reported that conditions have been agreed for the fight in which the British WBA, IBF and WBO champion will compete against its mandatory IBF challenger.
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Previously, his two main heavyweight rivals Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury will face each other in a rematch on February 22.
Because of their intense rivalry, it was expected that Wilder would try to downplay AJ’s upcoming fight, but instead honor the opponent.
When asked about Pulev, the American said to ESPN: “He is a brave and strong fighter.
“I didn’t see too much of Pulev because he wasn’t too much out there.
“The things I saw, he definitely had great fights, Klitschko and stuff, I think he’s strong-willed and strong-willed.”
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Wilder belonged to Pulev
The struggle that Wilder refers to is the only defeat in Pulev’s career – for Wladimir Klitschko in 2014.
The brave Bulgarian took up the fight with the reigning master, but landed on the canvas several times before becoming KOd in the fifth round.
Since that defeat, he has rebuilt his career and earned his place as AJ’s compulsory subject.