This is the way the rankings look as of 03/12/15, which is the last time it was updated on the official IBF website: Champion: Fury 1. Glazkov 2. Not rated 3. Klitschko 4. Martin 5. Teper 6. Szpilka 7. Cunningham 8. Joshua 9. Takam 10. Parker Obviously a lot has changed since 3/12/15, Tyson Fury has been stripped because of his rematch with Klitschko, which takes them two off the list. Glazkov & Martin will now fight for the vacant title next month, Teper is banned for two years, so his name may be taken off, Szpilka is taking the WBC route fighting Wilder for the world title next month so his name should be taken off, number 2 spot is not rated hopefully this will change in their next update & finally Joshua defeated Dillian Whyte this month which may or may not bump him up passed USS Cunningham whose last fight was a controversial draw against Tarver & before that a controversial loss to Glazkov who now fights for the vacant IBF title, gotta feel for Steve Cunningham. Getting back on topic, when the IBF update their rankings, hopefully next month, they could look a bit like this: Champion: Glazkov/Martin 1: Glazkov/Martin 2. Cunningham/Joshua 3. Joshua/Cunningham 4. Takam So Anthony Joshua may be a lot closer to a world title than we all think, Joshua vs Cunningham in an eliminator could be a very real possibility.
Cunningham inst a bad fight for Joshua id rather see him go the Euro route and fight 3-4 times before going for a world title but if its available then i think they will go for it.
Me too, by the sounds of it the euro route would only be one fight as Helenius-Chisora is going to purse bids next month for the euro title & judging by Hearn & Sauerland's comments, Joshua gets the winner.
Why wouldn't AJ go for this title ASAP and take the winner on in the summer? It's the easiest route and while he's young and fit then once in a lifetime opportunity. Tyson became a legend for being so young and hungry. Reason I think it's an idea is I can't see AJ becoming a united champ as last fight showed some very worrying things and at the moment he'd be eaten alive by Fury and Haye if he gets back to former glory. Cash in AJ!!!
I think Joshua needs to take it slowly, he has a lot he needs to work on. His footwork and stamina are two areas he really needs to work on...he also needs to shed the upper body muscle.
I think Joshua fights 3 times this year with a potential ibf shot in early-mid 2017. The ibf title will get passed around more freely now
I don't think the ibf route is rushing him. I think he beats them all. He wins the ibf he will have had another year anyway. I see it as Cunningham ibf eliminator in April. Helenius/ chisora European in July. Ibf belt in November or December. That's 3 winnable fights and a years developing
That's the three fights I was hoping for, but also thinking would Hearn risk putting him in with Helenius/Chisora if he became the IBF mando, it's a winnable fight but Hearn will see it as a risk.
Is chisora really seen as a risk, he's not overly known for his power but more volume of punches on the inside, can't really see him getting close enough
Don't see it as a big risk either..it's more so because it's a fight than can easily be made and is also a pretty easy sell as Chisora is a name that many casuals know. He won't be able to close the range quick enough and get his shots off. Then if/when he does land, he isn't a "big" puncher. He does have a good chin on him though so I don't see him getting blown away.
Here is the latest rankings 4th Jan 1.Vyacheslav Glazkov 2 NOT RATED 3 Charles Martin 4 Anthony Joshua 5 Carlos Takam 6 Joseph Parker 7 Steve Cunningham 8 Andy Ruiz Rumour is Joseph Parker is fighting Carlos Takam in either April or July...which should put JP ahead of AJ in a shot at the mandatory....Interesting times.
I wasn't too far off the mark then & Joshua has jumped passed Cunningham, a win over Takam should definitely put Parker ahead of Joshua, things are looking good for the two prospects Joshua & Parker, exciting times.
There's a journalist from Sky Sports Boxing that is obviously a member on this forum. They literally stole your post and reworded it into an article on their website.