Former world champion Anthony Joshua’s next fight has been hinted at by Eddie Hearn in an interview with IFL TV. Hearn insists that , “Anthony Joshua’s next fight will either be for the world heavyweight championship or for the undisputed heavyweight world championship”. This is massive news and informs us on what the future of the heavyweight division could look like.
Anthony Joshua’s IBF Situation
Hearn stated regarding Fury vs Usyk “If there are 2 fights which we understand there is then the IBF will become vacant”. This suggests the winner of Fury vs Usyk will be stripped of the IBF title and remain tied up. This gives Joshua a golden opportunity to capture a world championship without fighting Fury or Usyk.
Currently in the IBF rankings Filip Hrgovic is ranked number 1 and is Usyk’s mandatory after beating Zhilie Zhang. The number 2 spot is empty and Joshua is ranked number 3. So if the title becomes vacant Hrgovic will likely face Joshua for the vacant IBF title. So I’d favour Joshua to become the next IBF world champion.
Although Hrgovic is better than Joshua’s recent competition he has not looked great. After an underrated win against Zhang in 2022 he beat Dempsey McKean and Mark De Mori in 2023. the McKean performance was uninspiring and the Mori win although a quick finish was against a nobody.
Contrastingly, Joshua fought thrice in 2023 and once in 2024 . This is the most active Joshua has been in years rebuilding nicely after the Usyk losses. Joshua didn’t look great in the Franklin or Helenius fights. He beat Franklin by decision in a timid performance and did similarly against Helenius until the KO. Both fighters were better than Hrgovic’s recent opponents but Joshua looked unimpressive. Then Joshua returned to form against Wallin stalking and pummelling him until Wallin retired on his stool after the fifth. Joshua then flattened Ngannou in two.
If Joshua beats Hrgovic and he becomes the IBF champion he is in prime position to try for undisputed. After Usyk and Fury fight the belts will likely fracture due to overdue mandatories and potential retirements and Joshua will be waiting in the wings.
Joshua’s WBO and WBA Position
The WBO belt is held by Usyk and could potentially be held by Fury. The current WBO mandatory and interim champion is Joseph Parker defeating Zhang by decision to get the position. If the belt becomes vacant Parker likely fights Joshua, Joshua being ranked number 1 by the WBO. There would be little reason for this fight to not happen with Parker being eager to avenge his previous loss to Joshua . Joshua would be favoured to win this beating Parker before and improving since their last fight. Although, Parker has also improved .
The WBA Super belt is also held by Usyk and could be gained by Fury. The current mandatory and regular champion is Mahmoud Charr. Currently, their rankings have Martin Bakole as number 1 and Joshua number 2. So a vacant title fight would involve Charr and Bakole . However, with Joshua being number 3 him being in a vacant title fight isn’t unreasonable. But, even if he didn’t fight for the vacant he could fight the winner of Charr vs Bakole. If this happened Joshua would be favoured over both Charr being light work but Bakole could prove challenging.
Joshua’s WBC Position
The WBC belt is held by Fury and could be gained by Usyk. The current mandatory is Anthony Joshua being ranked number 1 so a vacant fight would likely involve Joshua. Agit Kabayel ranked number 3 by the WBC and Frank Sanchez ranked number 2 has been made and is on the Fury vs Usyk undercard. So a vacant fight would also involve the winner of Kabayel vs Sanchez. Both fighters could cause Joshua issues both looking good in recent outings against good competition. Sanchez particularly could cause issues being a tricky mover however he is old and hasn’t faced anyone on Joshua’s level.
So assuming Joshua’s next fight is for the IBF title against Hrgovic he will be in a great position. If he beats Hrgovic he will become a three-time champion. Joshua would also be in position to unify against whoever the various champions are and take advantage of vacancies.
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images
