Haye Explains Why Anthony Joshua-Eric Molina is Next - Not Price

By Edward Chaykovsky

Anthony Joshua (17-0, 17KOs) is likely going to defend his world title on December 10th in Manchester against Eric Molina (25-4, 19KOs), according to former two-division world champion David Haye.

Joshua was holding out hope for a fight with Wladimir Klitschko. That hopes was dashed in the wind on Monday, when Klitschko revealed that he suffered a calf injury and pushed back his next fight to 2017.

Joshua will still go forward in December, and there are several names in the mix to face him - including Molina, Kubrat Pulev and the man who many feel is the frontrunner, Olympic bronze medal winner David Price.

Haye rejects the idea of Price being the frontrunner, because the fight would place Joshua in a "no win" situation. Price would be a serious underdog in the contest, because of what many feel is a suspect chin. He's been stopped three times and hasn't beaten anyone of note since restarting his career earlier this year.

But domestically Price is by far the biggest name of the bunch and would sell the most tickets and pay-per-views with Joshua.

Price also claims that he knocked Joshua out in a sparring session back in 2012, when Joshua was training for the London Olympic games.

“[Klitschko] was the perfect fight for him. It was the perfect fight for Anthony at the right time for him. Obviously it was a big fight. That would have gotten a lot of attention. Although Wladimir lost his last fight and he hasn’t fought for a year - he still has that Klitschko name, and that Klitschko name generates excitement, particularly when you’re fighting a British fighter like Anthony Joshua who is unbeaten," Haye told IFL TV.

"You’ve got to feel a little sorry for Anthony Joshua. This was probably his coming out fight. This fight against Wladimir Klitschko was him announcing to the world - ‘yes, I am the main man in the heavyweight division.’ It’s unfortunate that he didn’t get the opportunity to do that. I believe he’s probably going to fight Molina, who Chris Arreola knocked out in one round, so don’t expect that to go far. No, he won’t David Price. He’ll fight Molina. I’m pretty sure about that. I don't think he'll fight David Price."

"I think it’s a no win situation for Joshua [to fight Price].  David Price is very dangerous. Apparently there are rumors that he knocked out Joshua in sparring when Joshua was an amateur, which doesn't mean nothing. That coupled with the fact that he's been knocked out by Tony Thompson, who is 58, and knocked out by Erkan Teper, who looks like he works in a kebob shop. And he hasn't beaten anyone recently. If he knocks [Price] out, so what he should knock him out. If he has a hard fight then he will be judged against those fighters [Thompson and Teper]."

"At least with Molina his most recent loss was against [WBC champion] Deontay Wilder. So then you can compare his knockout to Deontay Wilder's knockout. He went a few rounds with Wilder, but Joshua will chin him in a couple of rounds. That fight makes sense. That fight makes sense on paper. Looking at it from Joshua's point of view, he doesn't gain anything from beating David Price other than a measuring stick to Erkan Teper and Tony Thompson, and he doesn't want to be compared to them."