The ManicaPost
Boxing politics look set to delay any fight between Anthony Joshua and either Deontay Wilder or Tyson Fury until 2022, according to the 5 Live Boxing team.
Joshua won back three of the four world heavyweight titles by outpointing Andy Ruiz Jr in a rematch on December 7.
Afterwards the Briton said he would no longer spend energy on calling out American Wilder —who holds the WBC title — or Fury.
As 5 Live Boxing’s Mike Costello and Steve Bunce explained, financial splits and mandatory obligations could keep fans waiting for a fight long in the making.
As early as June 2016 Joshua was mentioning Fury and Wilder as prospective opponents — the two are due to fight for a second time on February 22 after fighting to a thrilling draw in December last year.
Joshua has offered to help Fury with sparring for that contest, believing his compatriot will agree to fight him before Wilder would.
Negotiations between the Joshua and Wilder camps in 2018 proved fruitless, with no agreement on what split each fighter deserved.
But Costello believes the fact Wilder’s most recent win, over Luis Ortiz, was bought less than 300 000 times on pay-per-view television underlines Joshua’s strength at the negotiating table.
“We just have to understand the boxing politics here and I can see more of this being an issue down the line,” says BBC Sport boxing correspondent Costello.
“When you look at the figures we are hearing about from Sky Sports Box Office for Joshua-Ruiz — upwards of 1,5 million buys at £25 a throw — that’s nearly £40 million into the pot before you consider what the Saudi Arabian hosts threw in, what you get for international TV rights and other sources of revenue.
“This is where the traffic jams start. Whatever you say on the outside about the sporting contest being 50-50, in terms of the business of the fight, Joshua brings more to the table.”
He has been ordered to strike a deal by mid-January to face Ukraine’s Oleksandr Usyk, the WBO’s mandatory challenger who could first face Britain’s Dereck Chisora early in 2020.
But Kubrat Pulev is also a mandatory challenger via the IBF.
“That creates a situation where people will criticise him for fighting Pulev and criticise him for facing Usyk or Chisora,” says 5 Live Boxing’s Steve Bunce.
“The WBO have given Usyk’s and Joshua’s people 30 days to agree a deal.”
Two mandatory defences in 2020 would probably mean no other bouts for Joshua, who has not fought three times in a calendar year since 2016.
That means the focus shifts to early 2021 but Dillian Whyte is currently expected to use his own mandatory status with the WBC to pursue a world title fight against Fury or Wilder around that time.
A further — and significant — challenge would be the deal that would need to be struck between the different broadcasters attached to each fighter. — BBC
