SAN DIEGO - Anthony Joshua is eager to enter a third heavyweight title reign, though not to the point of forcing the hand of his prior conqueror who has a far greater battle on his mind.

The availability of Ukraine’s Oleksandr Usyk is off the table for an indeterminate amount of time, as the undefeated two-division and reigning IBF/WBA/WBO/IBO heavyweight champion has taken up arms in the ongoing Russo-Ukraine war. Usyk joined countryman and best friend, former three-division champion Vasiliy Lomachenko to follow the lead of former heavyweight champions Vitali and Wladimir Klitschko in joining a defense battalion to protect their homeland against the Russian invasion.

Usyk’s military status effectively puts his boxing career on hold—and with it, an obligated rematch with England’s Joshua whom he outpointed last September 25 in East London. Joshua (24-2, 22KOs) exercised a rematch clause for a fight that was tentatively eyed for late spring as Matchroom Boxing—Joshua’s career-long promoter—sought a proper venue to host the event.

For however long it takes, Joshua and his side are willing to wait.

“It’s a very personal and emotional time for Usyk and our thoughts are definitely with him,” Eddie Hearn, Matchroom Sport chairman told BoxingScene.com following a press conference to otherwise discuss the return of Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez to DAZN. “We respect his situation and will give him all the time he needs to fight us again.

“But we’re not letting that obligation go away. We’;re not looking to get out of it. AJ just got offered a lot of money to get out of that fight and he didn’t take it.”

Joshua made just one successful defense of his second unified title reign, a ninth-round knockout of Kubrat Pulev in December 2020. The fight came one year after regaining the IBF/WBA/WBO/IBO in a twelve-round win over Andy Ruiz in December 2019, six months following his first career defeat when Ruiz recovered from a third-round knockdown to floor Joshua four times in a seventh-round stoppage at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

The loss to Ruiz was immediately met with Joshua demanding a contractually-owed rematch and the fight taking place in a makeshift arena in Saudi Arabia. The situation is far different this time around, with Usyk actually returning to Ukraine from England in late February at the start of the Russian invasion. In a recent interview with CNN, the undefeated southpaw clarified that he was unsure when I'm going to be stepping back in the ring, My country and my honor are more important to me than a championship belt."

As badly as Joshua would love to have those belts back in his possession, he and his team can certainly understand the real priority in his boxing rival’s life at the moment.

“If we have to take an interim bout in May or June, we’re happy to do that,” notes Hearn of a possible solution to appease all parties. “After that, we’ll fight Usyk when the situation is resolved.

“We haven’t heard anything official from his team but it doesn’t seem right to reach out and ask ‘Is our fight ok.’ We respect what he’s going through and are willing to give him all the time he needs.”

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox