We all know that WBA/IBF/WBO heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua is having his next fight on April 13 at Wembley Stadium. This time we are pretty sure who he’ll be facing.
The match will either be with WBC titleholder Deontay Wilder or with Dillian Whyte, who knocked out Dereck Chisora in another rematch this past weekend.
Wilder (40-0-1, 39 KO) had a draw with Tyson Fury on Dec. 1 making it more interesting for a potential rematch between the two. Anthony Joshua (22-0, 21 KO) has different thoughts as he thinks Wilder might be in a tough spot than imagined.
“You know what I found interesting? I heard [Ben Davison] say he needs a break. He’s just come back. Now I think Deontay Wilder is in a sticky position, because he was trying to freeze me out. Now he’s in a sticky position.”
Wilder will have to fight someone else if Fury (27-0-1, 19 KO) and his team don’t want a Wilder rematch sometime in the spring. He will face a lot of criticism if he has to face anybody else to Anthony Joshua, even if the opponent is someone perfectly valid, like Luis Ortiz.
If Wilder passes, Joshua thinks Whyte has earned the shot over other potential foes:
“Dillian over [Jarrell Miller]? In my opinion, he deserves it. He’s fought the tougher, stiffer competition. You’ve got to give it to the man who has worked his way up the rankings, if it’s not Wilder or Fury. Why not Dillian?”
If Wilder doesn’t face Joshua on April 13 at Wembley, Whyte (25-1, 18 KO) is going to be the expected “alternate” opponent. This will be a bigger fight than the one with Jarrell Miller.
All of this probably will settle within a month’s time and Matchroom would not want to stretch things out as they want time to promote that April date. They probably don’t want to take things to February unless they believe there is a fair chance of facing Wilder. If that is the case then we can see it going into February until we are sure, but if not, Whyte is expected to be announced in next four weeks or so.
