In the sport of boxing there is rarely a “sure thing” and this Saturday’s heavyweight title bout between WBA and IBF champion Anthony “AJ” Joshua and WBO champion Joe Parker is no exception. Will the winner fight WBC champion Deontay “Bronze Bomber” Wilder next?
Wilder could by-pass the winner for now and fight recent winner Dillian “The Body Snatcher” Whyte who defeated previously unbeaten Lucas “Big Daddy” Browne convincingly. Whyte is the No. 1 contender in the WBC rankings and called out Wilder after his victory.
Wilder coming off a tough win over previously unbeaten Louis “King Kong” Ortiz might be looking for something a little easier with fighting Whyte instead of the Joshua-Parker winner. Of course after they fight Saturday it will be more clear what Wilder and the winner will do. The upcoming fight is in Cardiff, Wales, and the European’s love their heavyweights much more than the Americans do. So future championship fights could end up in the UK somewhere and Wilder might not like that though the money should be much larger.
If Parker wins he might give Hughie Fury, 20-1, a rematch since their fight in September ended in a majority win for Parker and fighting another Brit in the UK might make more sense than fighting say in Australia. Besides if Joshua, who is the favorite according to sports betting NZ, wins he might not fight until September based on his fighting twice a year in 2017 and its doubtful Wilder would want to stay inactive until then.
The officials for this Saturday’s fight seem neutral with the referee being from Italy while the judges are from New Zealand, the UK and the United States.
Russian Alexander “Russian Vityaz” Povetkin, 33-1 (23), is the No. 1 contender in both the WBA and the WBO and a former Olympic Gold Medalist as is Joshua. Povetkin could easily step in fighting the winner of Saturday’s contest. Wilder could fight Whyte in the co-feature just to get the feel of fighting in the UK. Any way you look at it the heavyweight division is once again alive since the Klitschko’s once dominated.