1. Immediate title fight with Glazkov 2. Bout with Cunningham. He should face an established HW next without too much power or size, who's clearly top 15 but not solidly top 10 to get him so more experience and confidence at a low risk. Both those guys fit the bill to the T. Getting a belt would be the best bet, but if Glazkov didn't want to fight him, Cunningham is highly ranked in the IBF as well, and Joshua could possibly earn a slot as mandatory if he face him. The benefits, financial and otherwise, of a title match are obvious, but the Cunningham fight could be lucrative for him too. If he was able to puff up a fight against a totally unproven pro on the basis he beat him as an amateur, imagine what he could do against the guy who kd'd Tyson Fury. "Cunningham nearly ko'd Fury, Fury barely got by using illegal tactics. This will be a test to see if Joshua can do a better job" etc etc. They could hype it for its own benefit, and also to help further build the hype for an eventual clash with Fury. I don't see any other opponent making sense for Joshua except for one of those two.
As a Joshua fan - who DON'T you want to see him fight? Or are you so hyped he KO's everybody? Also I heard Cunningham was going back to Cruiser after being on the wrong side of a couple of decisions. Remember Martin is a Haymon fighter, as is Brezeale, and that scorecard Brezeale got against Kassi, where John Westeterp gave Brezeale EVERY round, pretty much proves corruption. On the other side, you've got Glazkov, who got lucky against Cunningham and Rossy It's could be a battle of the check-books, rather than the check-hooks, and I'm backing Haymon over Duva, but even if Glazkov wins, I'll bet my house there's a unification fight between Wilder and the winner of Glazkov/Martin. Haymon isn't investing hundreds of millions unless he actually believes he can pull the strings. Joshua, Povetkin, Ortiz, Parker etc. etc. will be left holding their ****s for a couple of years at least
He will probably fight a Euro opponent. I think they might go for a former opponent of one of the champs and knock him out faster to make a statement. Christian Hammer, Johann Duhaupas and, even though less likely, Tony Thompson would be plausible options at this point.
