Anthony Joshua can still fight for the undisputed heavyweight title despite closing the door on his Road to Undisputed dream.
AJ put his slogan in conjunction with JD Sports aside when losing twice against Oleksandr Usyk. The Londoner saw Usyk land the opportunity to fight for all the belts ahead of him.
Before his latest win, the two-time champion told TNT Sports his view: “It won’t happen anymore. I think it’s just the reality.
“What will happen is that Usyk and Fury can now compete for the undisputed. Once they compete for the undisputed, the belts will get split up again.
“And I feel it would probably take me about five to six years to go through and get all the belts and beat all the independent champions.
“That will probably take me on to being 40-41, so it’s probably not in my timeframe,” he added.
Undisputed heavyweight title
Usyk, who holds the WBA, WBO, and IBF straps, ripped from Joshua with ease and retained in 2021 and 2022. The formidable Ukrainian puts them up against Tyson Fury in Saudi Arabia on February 17’s ‘Ring of Fire’ extravaganza.
The clash will be the first undisputed heavyweight title match since Lennox Lewis won all the gold in the late 1990s.
Despite Joshua’s door being closed briefly, it has since moved to an ajar position after Deontay Wilder’s loss to Joseph Parker. After doing his bit with a win over Otto Wallin, Joshua was due to face Wilder on March 9 and again later on in 2024.
The “Bronze Bomber” cost Joshua a pile of cash in earnings. He went down with a whimper to the New Zealander on points.
Anthony Joshua’s Road to Undisputed
But what Wilder’s misfortune did was put Joshua’s foot in the undisputed doorway. With no ties to Wilder, Joshua can now pursue a vacant IBF battle with Filip Hrgovic.
Having lost twice to Usyk, Joshua must wait in line for a shot at the winner over a two-fight series. However, he’s in line to pick up the IBF belt against Hrgovic when it almost certainly becomes vacant.
In that case, Joshua must hope the WBO gives Fury vs Usyk II an exception so any battle with the victor can remain undisputed.
The WBO, like the WBC, is usually lenient regarding undisputed. The WBA will also look favorably on Fury vs Usyk II due to the finances involved.
Therefore, Joshua could be the IBF ruler again by the late spring. He’d only have to wait another fight to gain a crack at the winner of Fury vs Usyk.
Even if the WBO does follow the IBF and vacate its belt, Joshua still has time to unify the IBF and WBO titles as Fury vs Usyk II is completed.
That could be around August or September, leaving another undisputed heavyweight battle open for the end of 2024 or early 2025.
Joshua’s Road to Undisputed isn’t closed yet.
Phil Jay is an experienced boxing news writer and has been the Editor of World Boxing News since 2010.
