Anthony Joshua is buzzing right now, due to the fact that the heavyweight division is “alive” and “booming.” AJ, speaking with Sky Sports News, spoke positively about the fact that all three rival heavyweight champions: himself (WBA/IBF/WBO), Tyson Fury (lineal) and Deontay Wilder (WBC) will be in action over the summer. And Joshua, who must first overcome the June 1st challenge of Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller, has an idea as to how he can make his weight class even more exciting.
Joshua’s grand plan is to silence the vocal Miller in his U.S/Madison Square Garden debut, then take on Wilder and beat him to become the holder of all major belts at heavyweight – and then defend them against undisputed cruiserweight king Oleksandr Usyk, who is of course set to invade the heavyweight division next month.
“I think it will be class if I can fight Wilder for the undisputed title and then I could fight Usyk because then that would be the undisputed heavyweight champion versus the undisputed cruiserweight champion at heavyweight. That would be unbelievable.”
It would also be boxing history in the making seeing how Usyk, the first man to have held all four major belts at 200 pounds, would become the first four-belt cruiserweight holder to challenge for the undisputed heavyweight crown. It’s an exciting plan AJ has, but will it come off? We all know full well the problems that have been encountered when previous attempts to negotiate a Joshua/Wilder fight have taken place, and fans are not willing to hold their breath on seeing this ultra mouth-watering fight get done any time soon.
Maybe Joshua will have to miss out on a Wilder fight and go straight to Usyk, his WBO mandatory? Of course, before any of this can happen AJ has to deal with the unbeaten and seemingly enormously confident Miller. But if Joshua could defeat Miller, and then fight and defeat Wilder before giving us another biggie with Usyk, then all the frustration fans of the heavyweight mega-fights have endured would be all but forgotten.
And if Joshua could win all three of these fights, in so doing achieving so much after just 25 pro fights, maybe his place in The Hall of Fame would be secure. Wins over Wladimir Klitschko, Joseph Parker, Dillian Whyte, Alexander Povetkin, Jarrell Miller, Wilder and Usyk – would this be enough to secure AJ greatness?