“Nicola Adams & Anthony Joshua” (CC BY 2.0) by DancesWithLight
Anthony Joshua recently stunned the world when he claimed the IBF World Heavyweight Championship by beating Charles Martin in what was only his 16th professional fight. Now there is speculation surrounding the 26-year-old as to how far he can go. Naturally, there has been talk of a potential bout with Tyson Fury sometime in 2016. Will this go ahead and, if so, who will be the victor?
Fresh from the incredible win at London’s O2 Arena, Joshua is ready to make waves in the division and his promoters will be looking at some high-profile match-ups for him in the near future. Along with the WBA and WBO champion, Fury, the former WBA champion, David Haye, has also come up as a strong possibility. The chat has already begun between Fury and Joshua, as Joshua stated that he “is going to walk through Tyson Fury when he’s ready,” and he has also made digs at him on social media about his weight.
In the current boxing betting odds, Joshua is 8/11 to beat Fury, with the latter at odds of 11/10. But Amir Khan believes that the new IBF World heavyweight champion does not have what it takes to beat Fury right now. The former IBF light-welterweight world champion deems that it is too early in his career for Joshua to fight a man like Fury. Others, such as Haye, believe that Joshua has what it takes to get the better of Fury in what is sure to be one of the biggest fights in recent history in Britain. But will the match even go ahead?
For this massive match to go ahead at all, both contenders need to hold on to their belts in their respective rematches this summer. Fury has a rematch with Wladimir Klitschko on July 9th at the Manchester Arena. The Ukrainian is desperate to claim back his titles and will come back ready for revenge in this huge fight. Joshua has his first title defence on June 25th at the O2 Arena in London against an opponent who is yet to be announced. Both fighters must triumph in order for them to meet later in the year in a heavyweight title match.
The other big potential match-up for Joshua is Haye. After Joshua’s victory to claim the IBF title, Haye stated that he had the tools to beat the young champion. The 25-year-old former world champion still believes he is the best in the world and claimed that he would see the punches that knocked Martin down from a mile off. Joshua is currently at odds of 1/2 to win should that match come to fruition, with Haye at odds of 13/8 to be the victor. Haye’s next fight is on May 21st against the unbeaten Arnold Gjergjaj.
Can Joshua go on to stun the world even further in 2016 and brush aside some of the world’s greatest to become Britain’s number one?
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