Anthony Joshua next fight: Mandatory challengers must come before a third Andy Ruiz Jr bout

1/130
Richard Parry9 December 2019

Anthony Joshua’s next fight must be against a mandatory challenger, according to the World Boxing Organisation.

Joshua regained the WBO, IBF and WBA (Super) titles with a unanimous points decision victory over Andy Ruiz Jr in Saudi Arabia, having lost them to the Mexican at the start of June.

In the immediate aftermath both and Ruiz signalled their intentions to complete the trilogy of bouts, but WBO president Paco Valcarcel looks to have put the buffers on that, for now at least.

WBO rules state that champions who move up in weight are automatically elevated to mandatory challengers, and Oleksandr Usyk would be that challenger.

The Ukrainian defeated Chazz Witherspoon in October after clearing up in the cruiserweight division.

“Clash of the Dunes is over... Now clash of mandatories will be next,” insisted Valcarcel. “WBO mandatory challenger Usyk within 180 days.”

In Pictures | Anthony Joshua's professional fights

1/26

That timeframe would mean that AJ must fight Usyk before June 4 2020.

Responding to Valcarcel’s comments, Joshua said: “In 180 days? Lets rock and roll mate. Usyk? No problem.”

And a mandatory challenger is not limited to just his WBO title. IBF are also set to order Joshua to take on their mandatory challenger Kubrat Pulev

Joshua successfully defended his IBF title against Pulev at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium back in October 2017.

.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in