Nigerian-born world heavyweight boxing champion, Anthony Olaseni Oluwafemi Joshua is in agreement with his fellow-British rival, Tyson Fury that the only way they would be able to get a much-desired unification bout is if they both win their upcoming mandatory fights, megasportsarena.com reports.
Joshua is expected to take on International Boxing Federation (IBF) mandatory challenger, Kubrat Pulev of Bulgaria at a yet to be named venue in Britain sometime in either October or November, while Fury is awaiting a confirmed date for his trilogy bout with Deontay Wilder of America, who he beat in their second fight and took his belt, after they drew the first outing.
Should both fighters emerge victorious from their respective bouts, a huge unification bout is expected to be staged between them, with all four belts on the line, such that Joshua and Fury have both vowed to win their upcoming fights in order to make their all-British heavyweight showdown to take place in 2021.
It had initially been hoped that Joshua would take on Pulev in the spring of 2020 while Fury would meet Wilder for a third time this summer, but the coronavirus pandemic has wreaked havoc on the sporting calendar, pushing back the dates for those bouts.
Furthermore, if Fury were to face Wilder in December, it could mean that the Brit also has to face Dillian Whyte in a mandatory defence of his World Boxing Council (WBC) belt, as ‘The Body Snatcher’ has been given a cut-off date of February 2021 to challenge ‘The Gypsy King’ for the title he took from Wilder last year.
Nonetheless, Joshua and Fury have assured their fans that they are keen on stepping together in the ring, as the arch rivals renewed their desires after they bumped into each other in Marbella, Spain in a chance social encounter, when they both took time out to relax ahead of their return to training days.
Joshua’s promoter, Eddie Hearn spilled the beans on what was said between both boxers when they ran into each other last weekend; and the Matchmakers’ boss disclosed that it was strictly healthy banter between both Britons, as they urged each other to beat their next opponents in order to mace their historic clash possible.
Hearn retorted: “It was amazing, people think it was a set up. AJ said he was walking down the road and Fury drove up and opened the window and was like, ‘Alright?’ I think he said to AJ, ‘Make sure you beat Kubrat Pulev;’ and AJ said, ‘Make sure you beat Deontay Wilder.’”
