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Boxing: Joshua KOs Pulev; is Fury next?

In the heavyweight boxing circuit, star prizefighter Anthony Joshua (24-1, 22 KOs) successfully defended his four championship belts by knocking out 39 year-old Kubrat Pulev (28-2, 14 KOs) in nine rounds on Saturday at the Wembley Arena in London, England.

Joshua thoroughly dominated the match from start to finish in what merely amounted to an assignment to keep busy while possibly trying to arrange a mega showdown with current World Boxing Council and lineal heavyweight title holder Tyson Fury (30-0-1, 20 KOs).

On paper, a matchup between Joshua and Fury would give both fighters an opportunity to compete for the coveted title of undisputed champion. This holds great historical significance as the heavyweight division has not had an undisputed champion since Lennox Lewis in 2000. Being that 20 years has passed since Lewis’ reign, it would be safe to say a Joshua vs Fury showdown would attract plenty of eyeballs to the sport of boxing. So, what seems to be the hold up?

According to an article on talksport.com, Joshua and Fury have already agreed to financial terms on a two-bout contract. However, there are several outside issues which leads me to believe a mega matchup between these pugilistic titans will be delayed. For starters, former WBC title holder Deontay Wilder (42-1-1, 41 KOs) claims that Fury still contractually owes him a rematch following Fury’s one-side knockout victory over Wilder in February. While I do not claim to be an expert in contractual matters, the eye test tells me Wilder simply does not deserve a rematch after thoroughly getting beaten to a bloody pulp at the hands of Fury.

Additionally, boxingnews24.com reports that World Boxing Organization president Paco Valcarcel will not allow Joshua to bypass mandatory challenger Oleksandr Usyk (18-0, 13 KOs) for a shot at Fury without relinquishing his WBO championship belt. If Joshua forfeits one of his four championships to set up a bout with Fury, then the Joshua-Fury showdown will not be a title unification match.

Personally, I want to see Joshua against Fury regardless of how many belts are on the line. However, I can also understand why Joshua would want to retain all of his titles and fight the lesser known opponent to satisfy his WBO obligations. After all, the muscle-bound Brit has worked extremely hard to earn his place as one of the elite performers in his sport.

Yet another snag in setting up this dream matchup will likely be between competing promoters who will insist their client must receive a fair share of the revenue. While Eddie Hearn represents Joshua, Bob Arum represents Fury. Although I do not claim to have inside information on how talks are going between Arum and Hearn, I believe this fight needs to happen sooner rather than later as both Joshua, 31, and Fury, 32, are still in their respective primes.

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