Frank Warren has again suggested that Anthony Joshua could fight Joe Joyce next.
Joshua had been preparing to fight Oleksandr Usyk in his world title fight rematch in May or June, but that fight has been thrown into doubt by Usyk’s return to Ukraine following the invasion by the Russian army. Men of fighting age are not permitted to leave the country if they need to be called up to fight.
With no imminent end in sight to the war, there is now no guarantee that Joshua and Usyk will be ready to fight this year - if at all. However, that opens up a chance for a fight in the interim for the Briton.
Queensberry Promotions head Warren is keen on the fight and even backs his fighter to win,
“What have you got to lose? I fancy Joe,” Warren told talkSPORT. “For Joe, you look at the two fighters: Joe has got a tremendous chin, he’s got great stamina. They talk about what happened to him as an amateur. Well, they’re not amateurs anymore. They’re pros.
“If you look at how they’ve got on since they’ve become pros, AJ has done brilliantly. He became world champion. He’s also been beaten twice, and he’s been exposed, certainly in his last fight. Very exposed. And I fancy Joe can knock him over. We have made initial contact, but I don’t think they’ll go with it. If they want it, they can have it."
Joyce is currently the WBO mandatory challenger, meaning he may meet the winner of Joshua vs. Usyk if he does not get the chance at an early crack at the former champion.