On April 27, according to the authoritative boxing media in the United States, former heavyweight triple crown champion and British boxing superstar Joshua has determined the schedule and opponent of the next fight, according to his promoter Hearn, Joshua is ready to take the stage again, the match time is set for August or September, and the opponent is also the current top figure of the heavyweight.
As we all know, Joshua knocked out Naganno in 2 rounds last month, beating the so-called "7 billion strongest man" to scrap metal, and the victory in that match did not make Joshua flutter, because he knew that there was a bigger match waiting for him, and that opponent was Tyson Fury!
"Joshua has played four games in the last 11 months, and he's been training for 10 weeks in each game, which means he's been training 40 times in 11 months, but he still wants to keep the intensity going," Hearn said. We now await the outcome of the May 18 unification battle between Fury and Usyk, and if they don't have an immediate rematch, Joshua will fight their winner. ”
However, it is uncertain whether Fury and Usyk will have an immediate rematch, and if that happens, Joshua has an alternative opponent in the form of the winner of Hrgovic vs. Dubois on June 1.
Because after the battle between Fury and Usyk, 90% of the IBF throne will become vacant, and the collision between IBF legal challenger Hrgovic and Dubois will be a vacant IBF title match, Joshua is scheduled to play Hrgovic VS Dubois winner in August-September, which is undoubtedly for the IBF belt.
If Dubois beats Hrgovic, Hearn also admits that Joshua's clash with Dubois could be played out in Saudi Arabia: "It's possible, it's possible that the game will be at Wembley Stadium, there's no discussion about that yet. Whether it's a Fury vs. Usyk winner or Hrgovic vs. Dubois winner, our goal is clear: to make your way to the world gold. ”
From Hearn's disclosure, it can be felt that Zhang Zhilei wants to make a lot of money with Joshua is becoming less and less likely, because Joshua's next route is to go to the world gold belt, and Zhang Zhilei currently does not even have a transitional gold belt, and Joshua's promoter Hearn previously expressed that he would not let Joshua touch Zhang Zhilei, which means that Zhang Zhilei's chance of making a lot of money through Joshua is very slim, if he loses the opportunity to fight Joshua, Zhang Zhilei is equivalent to losing 1 billion yuan, after all, Joshua is currently the most valuable fighter in the heavyweight class。
Of course, Zhang Zhilei is not completely out of chance, as long as he kills Wilder on June 1, and then takes revenge in the rematch with Parker at the end of this year, he will become a WBO mandatory challenger again, and the reigning WBO champion will have to accept his challenge, otherwise he will have to give up the title, so Zhang Zhilei's performance on the stage in the next six months is crucial, and he must win all of them to have a chance to turn over. As for whether he can connect with Kerveld and Parker, let's wait and see.