Who Should Anthony Joshua Fight On The 13th April?

On Saturday Anthony Joshua successfully defended his world titles with a 7th round knockout of Alexander Povetkin. The question on everyone’s lips now is who is Anthony Joshua going to face on the 13th April?

After that stunning knockout we all know that Joshua will be back at Wembley on the 13th April next year, with the stadium booked the big question now is who is he going to fight? With the Heavyweight devision booming at the moment here are 5 names that I think could find themselves at the top of the list:

1. Deontay Wilder

I think this fight is on everyone’s boxing wish list at some point it has to happen. It looked all set to happen earlier this year, with Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn saying that Joshua has signed his half of the contract and they were just waiting for Wilder and his team to get back to them. For whatever reason the fight didn’t happen. Now the WBC champion has opted to take on Tyson Fury on the 1st December in Los Angeles, some people think he’s taking on Fury because he believes that he’s got a better chance of beating Fury than he has at beating Joshua Unfortunately because of the fight with Fury I can’t see him been ready or willing to fight Joshua in April. Whatever happens on the 1st December this is a fight that has to happen at some point.

2. Tyson Fury

18 months ago this fight was probably not even on Joshua’s radar but ever since Fury came back to the ring and even before than he was calling Joshua out. After the fight on Saturday Fury took straight to social media saying it was a poor performance and warning Joshua to stay away from him. I know this is a fight that the boxing public wants to see, and I think it is a fight that Joshua wants even if it is only to shut Fury up. However I can see the same problem with this fight as with the Wilder fight the timing. With Fury challenging for the world title in December is he going to want to fight again in April. The one thing that might temp either Wilder or Fury back into the ring in April could be the fact that the fight would be for the undisputed heavyweight world title.

3. Dillian Whyte

I think this would be a fight that all British boxing fans would love to see again. There first fight back in 2015 was a fight of the year candidate. Whyte became the first man to hurt Joshua as a professional and the first man to take Joshua past the 4th round before Whyte was stopped in the 7th round. Since then Whyte has done well to rebuild his career and put himself on the verge of a world title shot. In his last fight he went the distance with Joseph Parker to retain his WBC Sliver title and win the WBO International title. So if Joshua wanted to go down the mandatory route then Whyte could be a good choice. To be honest I think this could be the most likely fight for 13th April, Whyte hasn’t fought since July so if the fight was made I can see Whyte needing a warm up fight first.

4. Hughie Fury

On the 27th October Hughie Fury is fighting Kubrat Pulev in a final eliminator for the IBF title. So if he wins this fight it will make him the mandatory challenger for the IBF title. With his fight taking place in October he should be able to fight again in April. Some people think that this fight may come too soon for him, but if he did fight Joshua it wouldn’t be his first fight for a world title in 2017 he lost a controversial split decision to then champion Joseph Parker. He has already made it public that he would be happy to take on Joshua in April.

5. Jarrell Miller

Both Anthony Joshua and Jarrell Miller have been having something of a war of words over social media. During the world press conference for Joshua’s last fight with Povetkin Miller got up on the stage and got in Joshua’s face. Afterward Joshua said that if he wants the fight he’s happy to fight him.

I think all these possible opponents would make for a real entertaining fight to watch and there’s no doubt that any of these fights would sell out Wembley. Unfortunately this is going to be another case were we just have to wait and see. As always I love to hear what you guys think so please comment below whom would you like to see Anthony Joshua fight on the 13th April?