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I’m been thinking about the position for AJ; if he waits for Fury he basically has to wait till earliest of June to fight. With the wilder legal saga (which already derailed fury fighting in December) it looks unlikely to be sooner.
Even then, with the pandemic situation changing the likelihood of crowds in the first half of next year are reducing.
So I’m actually changing my view a little and thinking it maybe better to try and take on Usyk end of March or early April. Usyk is a very high class opponent anyway but it has two key benefits too; one it ensures the belt doesn’t need to be dropped (which it’s unclear if it would be, but certainly is at risk) and secondly his movement and boxing skills would be a great extra warm up for Fury to be honest. Very different type of fighter being much smaller but definitely would be a huge challenge and asset to have fought.
This would then still allow an opportunity (assuming he wins) to take on Fury at least once; but potentially even twice - July/December?
If fury did become unavailable because he does fight wilder; then this gives Joshua a few options. For me his main choices for opponent should be between Ortiz, Hunter and Hughie Fury in that scenario. He could go and fight Ortiz or Hunter in America; which I think it’s important for him to do at some point (not necessarily needed in 2021) to put the Ruiz loss behind him. Alternatively he could take on Hughie which would be a big marketable fight but also would help build the Tyson fury fight even more!
There is a genuine risk he waits for fury and basically just misses a fight out completely while waiting.
Thoughts?
Even then, with the pandemic situation changing the likelihood of crowds in the first half of next year are reducing.
So I’m actually changing my view a little and thinking it maybe better to try and take on Usyk end of March or early April. Usyk is a very high class opponent anyway but it has two key benefits too; one it ensures the belt doesn’t need to be dropped (which it’s unclear if it would be, but certainly is at risk) and secondly his movement and boxing skills would be a great extra warm up for Fury to be honest. Very different type of fighter being much smaller but definitely would be a huge challenge and asset to have fought.
This would then still allow an opportunity (assuming he wins) to take on Fury at least once; but potentially even twice - July/December?
If fury did become unavailable because he does fight wilder; then this gives Joshua a few options. For me his main choices for opponent should be between Ortiz, Hunter and Hughie Fury in that scenario. He could go and fight Ortiz or Hunter in America; which I think it’s important for him to do at some point (not necessarily needed in 2021) to put the Ruiz loss behind him. Alternatively he could take on Hughie which would be a big marketable fight but also would help build the Tyson fury fight even more!
There is a genuine risk he waits for fury and basically just misses a fight out completely while waiting.
Thoughts?
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