Nigerian-born world heavyweight boxing champion, Anthony Olaseni Oluwafemi Joshua has conceded that a super-fight with fellow-Brit, Tyson Fury is not the only bout he has on his mind, as he is also thinking of latter dates against another British fighter, Dillian Whyte and Ukraine’s Oleksandr Usyk, megasportsarena.com reports.
While a mandatory date against Bulgaria’s Kubrat Pulev is the immediate target for him, ‘AJ’ insists his ultimate bout is with Fury, but he has now also come out to admit that there is a part of his brain that is also planning for Whyte and a second mandatory title defence versus Usyk.
This comes at a point Usyk has already received a guaranteed shot at one of Joshua’s belts, having been installed as the WBO mandatory challenger, but will firstly face Derek Chisora on a rescheduled date, but Whyte accused ‘AJ’ of pretending that he wanted a Wembley fight.
Joshua believes he can enhance his own reputation by defeating Usyk, a former undisputed world cruiserweight champ, who said he intends to collect all the heavyweight belts, but ‘AJ’ earlier admitted that a blockbuster battle with fellow champion, Fury is needed to decide the world’s no 1 heavyweight but remains determined to fight all his big-name opponents.
Joshua told Sky Sports: “I know he’s been chasing a world title shot. I offered him a world title shot last year in April, he refused it. Maybe he wants his hand on the WBC, but if me and Tyson Fury fight, then I know he didn’t want to fight me last year, but he’ll definitely have to fight me this time, if he wants his hands on the WBC belt.
“Once I’ve beaten Tyson Fury, Dillian Whyte can come and get this work as well. It won’t be that good, it will be one-sided. Yeah, I think line them all up. You know what it is with me, you look through my resume, I take them all on.
“I will be a well-respected heavyweight in this division, knowing that I never ducked a challenge, but Usyk, Dillian Whyte, Fury, Wilder – they’re all on my hit list, for sure. He’s a WBO mandatory challenger and if Dillian didn’t step up, Fury didn’t step up, I would take on Usyk without a shadow of a doubt.”
