By Cliff Rold

The cancellation of the rematch between world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury and former Wladimir Klitschko, the latest cancellation anyways, was a downer in a year that has had its share. A slow start to 2016 seemed to be met with a surge through the middle months of the year.

September has been phenomenal.

A strong fight of the year candidate, Shinsuke Yamanaka-Anselmo Moreno II, led a pack of fights that also included Jorge Linares-Anthony Crolla, Roman Gonzalez-Carlos Cuadras, and Robert Easter-Richard Commey. For fans of trolling on social media crying about fights that might not happen for more than a year, if ever, it was easy to miss the fun.

For fans of watching high quality fighting between guys who signed on the dotted line, it was a time to revel in the joy good boxing can bring.

The only downside was a remaining calendar from fall into winter that looked a little bare.

Then it started.

It’s almost like a contagion.

One good fight sits out on an island to itself and then more gravitate toward it to breathe anticipation into the landscape.

With weeks of folks pointing at the Sergey Kovalev-Andre Ward fight as the last gem to really look forward to, things have started to happen.

Vasyl Lomachenko-Nicholas Walters, a fight once thought dead, is on.

James DeGale-Badou Jack?

It appears finally ready to go.

For all the headlines spilled on Klitschko-Fury II, one thing that had been consistent is this: even those unhappy it wasn’t happening didn’t really feel like they’d lost much. The first fight was, at best, intriguing. Fueled by the drama of a brewing upset, the twelve rounds they contested a year ago weren’t exactly…well…good.

It was a chess match between mammoth individuals. The return didn’t promise much more. The idea that could take its place?

That’s something else.

Klitschko, now 40, likely doesn’t want to see another training camp go to waste. It would be a sad waste to see an entire year go by at his age. He needs a fight.

Fury, for all the acumen he showed in wresting the title last year, proves the old adage that becoming the man and being the man are two different things. There’s another fighter in the United Kingdom who is being groomed to become, and be, the man.

Anthony Joshua (17-0, 17 KO), the undefeated 2012 Olympic super heavyweight gold medalist and current IBF titlist currently has a date without an opponent.

Klitschko (64-4, 53 KO), the 1996 Super Heavyweight gold medalist and former heavyweight champion once removed, has neither a date nor an opponent.

Klitschko-Joshua?

klitschko-joshua_3

Yes, please.

Now, let’s step back a moment. Realism rears its head. Joshua has a broadcasting agreement in the US with Showtime. Klitschko is still tied to HBO. There’s every reason to think Joshua’s last ring appearance this year ends up being someone else.

New Zealand’s Joseph Parker is his mandatory and could be the call. If not Joshua, it is Parker who is probably the best heavyweight in the world under 30. If and when they clash, it has the makings of the best early crossroads fight in the division since David Tua-Ike Ibeabuchi.

Give it a little time and it’s the type of showdown that could be much bigger than that. Joshua has the superior inside track to stardom right now. He’s playing to bigger crowds, has more international exposure, and he’s already snagged a belt. What Joshua doesn’t have yet is the sort of win that stamps him as a genuine global force.

This is where it’s hard not to indulge in the best ‘what if’ on boxing’s plate right now. Even with some of the good news swirling about, nothing has supplanted Kovalev-Ward has the hardcore boxing lover’s dish du jour. It’s still the main course for the remainder of the year. It might not get the most attention of the remaining fights this year; Manny Pacquiao’s return probably will.

But, for people who regularly love boxing and not just when its time to go stargazing, Kovalev-Ward is the main event for the final quarter of the year. 

Klitschko-Joshua is the one fight that could surpass all others. It would draw the rabid attention of the hardcore base and drive headlines in a way that lures casual eyes to the television screen. That’s not to mention the crowd it could draw.

In practical terms, it’s a smart fight for both men. Klitschko can provide Joshua access to the global platform more so than any other current opponent. For all his apparent talent, Joshua hasn’t faced anyone yet with deep bona fides. Klitschko is still the biggest name in the division, the standard bearer for most of a decade. This could be Joshua’s chance to play out his own personal version of Marciano-Louis.

Conversely, Joshua can provide Klitschko a chance to erase some of the bad taste the Fury loss left. At 40, what does Klitschko have left? Is he still too smart, too experienced, for the 26-year old heir apparent? Can he land the sort of shots that answer, once and for all, lingering questions about Joshua’s chin?

And when Fury returns, assuming he returns, the lineal king would have an opponent licking their chops with a big time scalp on their wall.

No one was really thinking about this one a week or so ago. Then Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn says that he’d reached out to Team Klitschko. Suddenly, this was a must have before the year is out.

Boxing could use a surprise this nice.

It’s too soon to say how real the chances of Klitschko-Joshua are.

This is just a bout of finger crossing until we find out.    

Cliff Rold is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene, a founding member of the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America.  He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com