After reclaiming his three world heavyweight titles in the desert nation of Saudi Arabia, the world is now straining to know who Anthony Joshua’s next opponent would be.
Already three challengers are apparently lined up and he must face as as mandated by the various boxing organisations.
Two boxing bodies have given Joshua I80 days to defend his titles or be stripped.
The WBO has put forward Kurat Pulev to face Joshua while the IBF has put forward Oleksandr Usyk as the mandatory challenger..
Also waiting in the wings is Britain’s Dallian Whyte who Joshua defeated in 20I5.
Before Joshua’s June I loss to Any Ruiz in New York, Deontay Wilder who holds the WBC’s heavyweight was seen as strong contender for a unification bout.
A box office fight was expected to have been between Joshua and his compatriot Tyson Fury.
Joshua reclaimed his three world titles by beating Andy Ruiz Jr on points in a rematch in Saudi Arabia on Saturday.
The 30-year-old previously beat Whyte, 31, in 2015.
Whyte beat Joshua as an amateur in 2009 and his only professional defeat in 28 bouts was a seventh-round knockout by his fellow Briton at the O2 Arena in London.
After having a charge for a doping violation dropped by UK Anti-Doping on Friday, Whyte beat Poland’s Mariusz Wach on a unanimous points decision on the undercard of the Joshua-Ruiz bout in Riyadh.
WBC champion Deontay Wilder is set to face Britain’s Tyson Fury in a rematch on 22 February.
Joshua said he is no longer interested in calling out American Wilder for a fight with all four world titles on the line but will fight Wilder and Fury “if the opportunity presents itself”.
“Once their rematch is out of the way they can start mentioning my name,” he said.
“I can’t keep on fighting all the champions, the best in the division and then other people who say they want to step up don’t step up.
“All challengers are welcome to take on this current unified champion.”
“We are on the cusp, possibly, of having this great heavyweight era that we’ve been talking about for so long over the next two years,” he added.
Joshua was meant to face Pulev in Cardiff in October 2017 but the Bulgarian withdrew through injury and was replaced by Carlos Takam, who Joshua stopped in round 10.
Joshua said on Sunday that defending his belts “on home soil would be big news” after promoter Eddie Hearn revealed he had been in discussions over a fight at Tottenham’s new 60,000-capacity stadium, most likely against Pulev.
“It would be mega,” Joshua added. “Looking at how many people came out here shows there is still a big interest in the heavyweight division, especially now we are taking the belts back.
“Sometimes it would be better against a Brit, but if not I follow the mandatories and defend them that way.”
Regardless of the opponent, Woodhall said Joshua’s next fight “will not be too far away” because he has a “feel-good factor” after beating Ruiz.
“He’s got that hunger back and he wants to keep boxing because he knows that if he’s boxing regularly, he’s boxing at his best.”
