Anthony Joshua to Face Winner of Deontay Wilder vs Luis Ortiz in 2018
Anthony Joshua is going to be a very busy man in the next few weeks as he continues to train for his bout against mandatory International Boxing Federation (IBF) challenger Kubrat Pulev.
The IBF, World Boxing Association (WBA) and International Boxing Organization (IBO) heavyweight champion will have to defend his belts against the Bulgarian boxer at Cardiff's Principality Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 28, and he has to focus on the fight because Pulev is confident he can pull off an upset.
But once he gets pass Pulev, Joshua already knows who he's targeting next. The winner of the bout between World Boxing Council (WBC) heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder and undefeated Cuban boxer Luis Ortiz.
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Wilder will defend his belt against Ortiz on Saturday, Nov. 4, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, and Joshua's promoter, Eddie Hearn, has guaranteed that whoever wins that bout will get to face Joshua next in 2018.
"If he comes through on the other side, we are really starting to build a super-fight here. Joshua will fight anyone, no problem. We're looking at the winner of that fight in spring, summer. Guaranteed that you will see Joshua fight the winner of that fight, before 2018 is out, for sure," Hearn told Boxing Scene.
"Joshua-Wilder is the fight. Two young, explosive heavyweights. It's becoming a super-fight. If it becomes a pay-per-view fight over here [in America], which I think it is, we don't mind coming here, and it's huge in the UK," he added.
Hearn has the right idea here. Now that Wladimir Klitschko has retired, Joshua and Wilder are clearly the most popular heavyweights in the world right now and a lot of boxing fans want to see those two trade punches in the ring.
World Boxing Organization (WBO) heavyweight champion Joseph Parker would have been an intriguing opponent as well for Joshua, but Hearn ruled out a potential fight between the two because Parker is coming off an unimpressive points win over Hughie Fury.
