Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury under danger Usyk plans to enforce mandatorty

Will Joshua actually vacate the belt though? It's one thing to vacate the world MW championship like Canelo did. Sure, it was a disgrace to such a legendary belt and division.

But the HW world championship? The most prized title in sports? Will Joshua actually spit on and drop the belt?

 

I predict all the belts will end up scattered after Joshua vs Fury.
Joshua vs Fury / WBA
Usyk vs ???? / WBO
Pulev vs ???? / IBF
Whyte vs ???? / WBC

 

Joshua should vacate the WBO belt. Sure, it wouldn’t be a “full” unification with Fury, like we all hoped, but the WBO belt doesn’t hold the same significance as the three others imo. It’s all about unifying the WBC and WBA, with the IBF being a pretty red belt from the 80’s to go along with it.

Also, playing the long game, this would make a later fight against Usyk bigger, for either Joshua og Fury.

 

The truth is that these belts don't matter at all. It comes down to opposition and who you are able to defeat.

The only body whose entire interests lie within belts is the governing bodies themselves. They are there to make money and a boxer only benefits in commercial terms by slinging a belt over their shoulder, not in legacy.

Anthony Joshua's biggest win of his career was stopping a 41 year old, inactive Wladimir Klitschko. The latter held no belts. Conversely, his win over Charles Martin, is seen as a farcical event, for a couple of reasons. The point is that the boxer gained in credibility by defeating an opponent, not acquiring a material possession.

 

If you read the op and followed the discussions and info we got about it since the Ruiz Jr rematch, you know that Joshua would have to honor his IBF mandatory and his WBO one. So there was a deal. Joshua was allowed to fight Pulev so he could keep his IBF belt, if he then fights Usyk (WBO) after.
Joshua fighting Fury means that he doesn't keep his end of the bargain towards Pulev (IBF) and Usyk (WBO), so he will likely lose both belts.
Then there's the whole WBC situation with Fury, who already said he's willing to drop the belt to fight Joshua.
So, there's a good chance only a single belt will be on the line when they meet, and otherwise likely that belts will be vacated after.

 

I love Usyk and want to see him do well, but it would be better for EVEYONE if Joshua vacate and let Usyk fight for a vacant belt against Joseph Parker.

A. better for Usyk because he gets and easier path to the title as he builds his heavyweight skills to fight one of the big two later.

B. Better for Joshua because he get the bigger money fight against Fury

C. Better for Fury because, should he beat Joshua and Usyk pick-up a vacant belt, Usyk might become the kind of big-money fight he wants.

D. Better for the fans because they get the mega-fight.

E. Better for boxing because the belts can always be re-unified later in what becomes a second mega-fight.

 

How many ways can boxing damage itself? The possibilities are endless.

 

or Hearn pays them off.

Probably comes down to putting a price on the marketing value of 'Undisputed'. Is it worth chucking a few million at Usyk's team to have them hold off on enforcing the mandatory? It would probably need to be a big sum, because there's at least 2 fights and possibly 3 before anyone else would get a look in.

Or is there sufficient interest for Hearn to call their bluff and AJ drop the title. There'd then be a big opportunity for the winner of the WBO belt to be the last man standing when the unified champion comes calling. Which would make Usyk v the number 2 contender, possibly Joseph Parker, a lucrative fight to win.

 

It's such a shame that when Deontay and Joshua had the chance to make the fight, it all fell through. I don't think the bodybuilder vacates any of those shiny belts. There's no indication from Joshua's interviews and his past behaviour that he will vacate. Expect that puny Usyk to come afterwards. I fully expect the winner of Wilder and Fury to fight Whyte. Looking at next summer is my best guess.

 

Fury will flatten Wilder even worse next time. Wilder is mentally broken goods now. Right now he couldn't beat Fury if they gave him a baseball bat and a pair of knuckledusters. Can you imagine the press conferences? Wilder will start bawling like a kid when Fury starts cranking up his motormouth.

Wilder would be best served by taking a year off and getting a boxing coach to teach him how to jab and use his feet.

 

The mentally broken are those on this board who are blaming Deontay Wilder for Anthony Joshua not fighting Oleksandr Usyk. (LOL)

WTF does Wilder have to do with Usyk suing Joshua?

Usyk stepped aside so Joshua could fight Pulev. Now Usyk is saying he won't step aside for Joshua to fight Fury after Pulev.

Wilder doesn't promote Joshua, Usyk, Fury or Pulev ... Matchroom and Top Rank do.

Wilder doesn't have a belt.

Wilder isn't suing anyone to block any fights.

If Wilder didn't fight Fury, Joshua would still have to fight Pulev and Usyk. And Fury would have to fight Whyte (who is suing) or vacate his WBC belt.

Just shows you can't get a conversation going about Usyk-Chisora or Joshua-Pulev or Fury-Whyte without bringing Deontay Wilder's name into the mix.

Because nobody cares about any of those matchups.