By Steve Kim
On April 9th, Olympic gold medal winner Anthony Joshua (17-0, 17KOs) captured the IBF heavyweight title by stopping Charles Martin in two rounds in what was just his sixteenth professional fight.
He made his first defense of his belt on June 25th by stopping unbeaten American Olympian Dominic Breazeale in seven rounds. Now he must fulfill his mandatory obligation with the IBF.
Joshua's promoter, Eddie Hearn, is planning to bring him back to action on November 26th. According to Hearn, that upcoming fight will not take place at the O2 Arena in London, which is where Joshua usually fights.
The IBF is planning to order Joshua's mandatory fight on November 9th, which sets the stage for an interesting scenario.
"On November the 9th we will tell Joshua that he has to start negotiating with (Joseph) Parker to do the mandatory," said the IBF Championship Chairman, Lindsey Tucker to BoxingScene.com. "The two sides will have thirty days to cut a deal. And if they can't reach an agreement then we call for the purse bid."
Tucker explained that Joshua will have satisfy his mandatory with Parker no later than January 19th, 2017.
Parker (20-0, 17 KO's), who hails from New Zealand, is scheduled to face Alexander Dimitrenko on October 1st. His promoter, Duco Events, have said their boxer would be ready to fight Joshua in late November or December.
Steve Kim is the news editor for BoxingScene.com.
