By Carlos Boogs
The fight is inching closer and closer by the day, and every indication is hinting to an official announcement next week for a huge heavyweight collision between IBF world champion Anthony Joshua (17-0, 17KOs) and former division king Wladimir Klitschko (64-4, 53KOs).
Klitschko has been out of the ring since his decision loss to Tyson Fury last November. The outcome of that contest was one of the biggest upsets in the last few years.
A rematch clause was enforced by Klitschko, but Fury withdrew from two scheduled dates and last week he vacated the WBO/IBO/WBA titles due to mental health issues.
When Fury fell out for a second time, negotiations for a Joshua-Klitschko fight quickly began to take shape.
Joshua's promoter, Eddie Hearn, has been working on this deal around the clock. The terms have been agreed upon by the fighters. The real issue, according to Hearn, is to convince the sanctioning bodies to place those vacant titles in the fight. The IBO would likely be on board with that idea. The WBO appears to be going in a different direction, and the WBA has yet to officially make their intentions known.
Hearn says a deal is practically there for December 10th at the Manchester Arena.
"In terms of the deal between the fighters, that's there really. Anthony Joshua has agreed to fight Wladimir Klitschko and Wladimir Klitschgko has agreed to fight Anthony Joshua," Hearn told Radio 5 Live.
"The financial terms are agreed. We had a problem with U.S. broadcasters because they're both with different networks [HBO and Showtime] - that's sorted out. Now it's just a case of getting the paperwork in order, the sanctioning in order. And I know I've been saying 'hopefully in a couple of days, hopefully in a couple of days' that we'll have an official announcement."
"It looks like Manchester [will host the fight]. It holds 21,000. It's the biggest arena in the country. It's a huge event. I think it's the biggest heavyweight fight in the last 10 years. It's the young superstar of the division against the guy who dominated over the last 10 years."
Hearn admits the fight is coming a little too soon for Joshua - which the Matchroom promoter feels will only make the contest even more exciting for the public.
"I don't think its the right fight for Anthony Joshua, but isn't that what's exciting about it. You can't really win as a promoter. because on one hand people say 'oh you're putting him in too easy fights' and then you put him a fight where people say 'oh that's a bit too early for him.' Well that's the excitement," Hearn said.
"You look at the bookmakers, you look at the odds - they're even money in the fight. It's a 50-50 fight. The freshness and sharpness leads you to Anthony Joshua. And then the experience [of Klitschko] says Anthony Joshua hasn't got a chance. But let's see. It's only his 17th pro fight. He's never been in with anyone with the experience of Wladimir Klitschko. But also I believe that Wladimir Klitschko has never been in with anyone like Anthony Joshua."
