Nigerian-born world heavyweight boxing champion, ASnthony Olaseni Oluwafemi Joshua has been hit with a fresh dose of mocking words from his mandatory challenger, Oleksandr Usyk of Ukraine, who declared that he wants to see if the champ is brave enough.
Although the fight has been ordered by World Boxing Organisation (WBO), Joshua’s camp is yet to formally accept the bout, such that Usyk is now wondering if Usyk is waiting to discover if Anthony Joshua “is brave enough” to agree a fight for the world heavyweight championship.
Joshua, who also holds the International Boxing Federation (IBF) and World Boxing Association (WBA) belts was ordered to take on Usyk after the collapse of his planned undisputed showdown with fellow-Briton, Tyson Fury, who will now face Deontay Wilder on July 24.
Megasportsarena.com reports that the deadline of May 31 delivered by the WBO for ‘AJ’ to face his mandatory challenger, has elapsed and Usyk’s promoter, Alexander Krassyuk wondered whether the champion has chickened out.
Krassyuk told Sky Sports: “We are waiting for King AJ’s decision whether he is brave enough to get dethroned. I have no idea at the moment.
“We are expecting his decision. There are no visible obstacles to the deal not to take place.”
However, Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn responded curtly, as he stressed ambigusouly: “We’ll either make a deal or we’ll vacate (the belt).”
Hearn, though, had previously told Behind The Gloves: “It is the fight that is most likely for us. We are talking to other people, as well, about other fights.
“The aim is to be undisputed. All AJ has done is to box off mandatory fights to keep the belt. How much longer does he have to do that?
“You never get the freedom to do what you want. In an ideal world we’d like to do what Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez has done – have three fights in six months.
“But it’s about defending the belts. He wants to become undisputed. He doesn’t want to lose the belts but his hands are always tied.”
