Anthony Joshua isn’t fighting anybody in February, yet he continues to keep himself squarely in the middle of all the talk swirling around the Feb. 22 Deontay Wilder-Tyson Fury rematch on Fox/ESPN pay-per-view.
It’s still not clear whether he’ll be Fury’s sparring partner or in training for his own fight, a mandatory defense against Kubrat Pulev about a month from now. Maybe he’ll do both. Maybe not.
But it is abundantly clear he will keep himself in the conversation as perhaps the only option for the Fury-Wilder winner. It’s almost as if Joshua is conducting a political campaign, tirelessly reminding everyone that he has most of the belts and most of the clout. Fury-Wilder II looms as the biggest heavyweight fight in years, but Joshua is talking as if the real biggie – the true main event – will happen later in the year. Against him and only him.
That might be why he wondered aloud on Sky Sports this week why Wilder has only one belt in 43 fights while he has three in 24.
Now he has turned to iTV to explain why he’s picking Fury, already a slight betting favorite, to win the sequel at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand. Above all, he says, he thinks it would be easier to put together a fight with Fury than it would Wilder.
“The reason why I thought about it and why it came to fruition for me is because I feel like if Fury was to win that fight, I think he’d be more inclined to fight me next and quicker, than Wilder would,” Joshua said.
A Fury victory would also set up an all-U.K. showdown, perhaps for all of the pieces of the heavyweight title. Between now and then, however, belts and bucks could change hands.
Timing and circumstances might make it hard for Joshua to hold onto the three belts he took back in a rematch decision over Andy Ruiz Jr. on Dec. 7 in Saudi Arabia. He wants to keep those belts. But mostly he wants what everybody else wants: The Fury-Wilder winner
“That’s why I was rooting for Fury to win, because I just want to fight and collect my last belt,’’ Joshua said. “If I was a betting man, I think Fury wins.”