Well, well, well... WBO to order mandatory challenge to AJ after Povetkin

Your're all up in Joshua, Hearn & Matchroom's goings on with as much dislike as you have for all 3, maybe you can tell me. Isn't Povetkin suppose to be the WBA's mandatory challenger?

 

Yes, Povetkin is the WBA mandatory. This is the WBO, their last mandatory was Hughie Fury vs Parker in Sept. 2017, however AJ unified the titles earlier this year. So a new mandatory due in 2019 would not have been in itself strange, but for the fact that they said they would count Povetkin (#1 ranked) as their mandatory as well.

My view is that the WBO are just sitting around waiting to see what happens, they've realised that being able to call a mandatory in the near future could be useful ...

 

That's because it is a very hot topic and many lies have been peddled by Mr Hearn and we've witnessed the biggest duck in the history of the sport.

All I know is that the Whyte AJ fight is set in stone for April. Eddie Hearn confirmed it himself in a interview

Hearn must have have sent a few envelopes to the WB0 to push Whyte as mandatory after AJ drills through Povetkin.

And this seems to be how he is going to justify the fight that it is an unavoidable mandatory in order to placate those who were expecting him to step up and fight Wilder.

 

And just like that with the suddenness of a blink of the eye everything becomes clear. Thankyou for your wisdom my Kiwi friend.

 

Precisly

You only have to listen to Barry Hearn to understand what they are doing with AJ. He's a brand owned by The Hearns to help make them richer.

I have a meeting with Anthony Joshua on Tuesday with Eddie, before Eddie goes off to New York.

“The decision is numbers – it’s a numbers game and it’s nothing to do with boxing. It’s purely to do with ‘that’s what you get if you fight Alexander Povetkin, that’s what you get if you fight Jarrell Miller, that’s what you get if you fight Deontay Wilder in England, that’s what you get if you fight Deontay Wilder in America. And I don’t fight, so it’s your call because you’re the guv’nor, you’re running heavyweight boxing.’

The Deontay Wilder fight, if I was Anthony Joshua, I’d be leaving that for a little while.

“Not because I’m worried about Deontay Wilder but at this moment in time maybe I’m looking at 500,000 to 600,000 pay-per-view buyers. In a year, done properly I might be looking at two million, two and a half million pay-per-view buyers.”

AJ isn't allowed to sign his own contracts and people believe he has a say in who he fights

 

Who deserves to be the WBO mandatory? Doesnt matter if it is Povetkin because he is fighting for the belt next month anyway.

 

A certain possibility, although I can certainly see the WBO actually calling this without greasing as a Joshua vs Whyte rematch for their title could possibly make them more money than a Joshua vs Wilder fight could.

 

Arreola deserves the shot, he is ready and in shape.

 

Id leave him to the WBC, im sure another loss on his record should push him above Whyte in the line to face Wilder.

 

It wouldn't make more money, but it would still yield good returns with far less risk to keep the brand going.

Whyte is the ideal opponent. He's tailor made for AJ just as he would be tailor made for Fury or Wilder.

What I'm saying is they are pointless fights whilst there is the issue of finding out who is the true undisputed champion, one name and one face. Fury Wilder and AJ need to be fighting one another back to back, not going around in circles wasting time fighting each others left overs in the breazeales, Whytes, Bellew etc.

 

What needs to happen is world champions need to be recognized in the rankings of the other title holders in that division. As the above states its no good all the different champions going round in circles when there are unifications to be made but it happens and its happened many many times in a number of divisions. But it wouldnt happen because i dont think any of the organizations like to have any of the belts unified.

 

I see what you are saying, and don't disagree with most of it, however a rematch after the success Whyte has had (to casual UK fans) could make serious bank. A domestic world level rematch, Whyte has himself quite a fanbase in the UK as well. Saying there aren't huge dollars for anyone involved in that rematch is simply untrue, right now with the built in story and promotion I could certainly see a all British HW rematch for all the marbles has the potential to make a ton of money that I could absolutely see rivaling what the first match of Joshua vs Wilder could make if they rushed to sign the fight today. I really see Joshua vs Wilder 1 sometime in the fall of 2019 with at least 1 probably two more rematches to follow, the 1st being in a stadium in the UK, the second in Vegas & if both do well financially maybe taking the 3rd to a neutral site like Ali vs Frazier 3. Hearn sees the potential of this rivalry/possible trilogy. By the time it's all said and done a series of fights between the 2 could generate mid nine figures, but it has to be built right, like GGG vs Canelo was (before Clenelo popping) that means time whether we like it or not.

 

Fujimoto that way I can watch a ****in' Fujimoto fight in America.