Just what will former two-time heavyweight champ Anthony Joshua’s next move be? With that talked-about fight with Deontay Wilder seemingly dead in the water, or at least absolutely nowhere near close to being, well, near, Joshua has no next fight set. Or does he?
While AJ is waiting to see what the score is with regards to the possibility of him fighting for the expected-to-be-vacated IBF heavyweight title (Oleksandr Usyk widely expected to box a rematch with Tyson Fury after their first clash, instead of facing IBF mandatory Filip Hrgovic. Thus he will be stripped of the belt) – he may take a ‘stay-busy’ fight in the meantime.
And, get this, there are rumors that say Joshua might fight Manuel Charr next. As per a Seconds Out video on YouTube, the expected fight between Charr and Jarell Miller (inexplicably ordered by the WBA, Charr reinstated as some sort of champion recognized by the organization) is now off (hooray, I hear you cry).
But this good news could, apparently, be spoilt by some very bad news – in the form of a Joshua-Charr fight.
According to the rumor mill, AJ may indeed fight Charr next in that aforementioned stay-busy fight, either on a main event show or, in what would be his first appearance as a non-headline act since 2015, on the undercard of the supposedly done Conor Benn-Chris Eubank Jr show, to go off on December 23.
Speaking with Seconds Out, Frank Smith of Matchroom didn’t rule out Charr as AJ’s next dance partner. Nor did he confirm.
“Er, he’s been a name that’s been around for a while, you know. There’s a small pool of fights for Anthony Joshua, is the reality – in terms of who he’s already boxed and who is available in the heavyweight division. But let’s see,” Smith said today.
“There’s no big chats yet, but let’s see what happens. The key is we need to find the right opponent in this interim between getting a big fight. The other thing as well is, there’s a lot going on with the IBF, with the Hrgovic, [Otto] Wallin situation. Let’s see.”
Wallin, like AJ, highly ranked by the IBF, might get that fight against Hrgovic for the vacant IBF belt. As Smith says, let’s see. But what we don’t want to see is Joshua against Charr. Not even as a ‘stay busy’ affair for Joshua! This would be a gross mismatch, one that could not be dressed up as anything but.
How would/will fans react if this fight turns out to be more than just a rumor?
