By Keith Idec
If Anthony Joshua and Alexander Povetkin win their respective fights Saturday night, they’re expected to meet sometime later this year, quite possibly next.
Eddie Hearn, Joshua’s promoter, told Sky Sports for a story posted to the network’s website Thursday that he wants Joshua-Povetkin to take place somewhere in the United Kingdom. Povetkin’s handlers would like to bring that heavyweight title fight to Povetkin’s native Russia, but are more than open to Povetkin returning to the UK to challenge Joshua.
Povetkin (33-1, 23 KOs) is the WBA’s mandatory challenger for Joshua, who holds the IBF, IBO and WBA heavyweight championships. The former WBA champion must defeat England’s David Price (22-4, 18 KOs) on the Joshua-Joseph Parker undercard in Cardiff, Wales, to maintain his mandatory status with the WBA.
England’s Joshua (20-0, 20 KOs) and New Zealand’s Parker (24-0, 18 KOs), the WBO champion, will fight for their four titles in the main event at Principality Stadium (Sky Sports Box Office; Showtime). Joshua and Povetkin are heavy favorites in their respective fights.
“Joshua will have to fight Povetkin at some point in 2018,” Hearn told Sky Sports. “Everything is about money, but we can generate a lot of money in the UK. [Povetkin’s handlers have] made it clear they would want to fight [in the UK]. The funding and backing that was initially there [in Russia] isn’t there anymore.”
Gilberto Mendoza, president of the WBA, told Sky Sports that a Joshua-Povetkin fight “should be” next for both boxers.
Mendoza added that Joshua could be granted an exception to push back his mandatory defense against Povetkin, but only for another title unification fight. Deontay Wilder (40-0, 39 KOs), who owns the WBC title, would be boxing’s only other recognized heavyweight champion after the Joshua-Parker fight.
It appears unlikely that a much-anticipated Joshua-Wilder bout would take place next, which makes the 38-year-old Povetkin probably the next opponent for Joshua.
Vadim Kornilov, the front man for Povetkin’s promoter (World of Boxing), believes Joshua-Povetkin would be at least as big in Russia as Povetkin’s unanimous-decision defeat to Ukraine’s Wladimir Klitschko in their championship unification match. That fight, which earned Klitschko and Povetkin more than $23 million combined in guaranteed purses, was held at Moscow’s Olympic Stadium in October 2013.
Kornilov mentioned Luzhniki Stadium, an 81,000-seat venue in Moscow, as a possible site for Joshua-Povetkin.
“It would be a huge fight in Russia,” Kornilov said. “But after speaking to Eddie, it would be a huge fight [in the UK], too, because there is a big Russian community. Anywhere is a possibility.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
