Joshua Searching For New Opponent Ahead of December Class

Former WBA, WBO, and IBF Heavyweight champion, Anthony Joshua, is reportedly screening potential fighters for his opponent ahead of a planned December bout. 

Some weeks ago, it was almost certain that Joshua’s next fight would be against Tyson Fury, who proposed the fight. But a breakdown in the contract signing squashed any hopes of seeing that fight come to life. 

Now, however, it appears that Joshua has moved on from that and is currently looking for a worthy opposition. This is according to promoter Dmitriy Salita. Salita said that Otto Wallin was one of the possible fighters that could face Joshua. 

Speaking to Sky Sports, he said: “Eddie (Hearn) and I spoke after the Usyk fight, and he expressed interest in the fight with Otto Wallin. Then there was the conversation with Tyson (Fury) fighting Joshua, so he (Hearn) and I spoke, and he said he was pursuing that possibility, so those talks were on hold.

“I know that Otto’s name is in the mix with some others, and it’s something that we’re very interested in, and we’ve expressed interest to Eddie.

“From what I know and from what I understand, Otto is in play for a possible fight with Anthony Joshua.”

The news has not been carried or mentioned by anyone in Joshua’s camp, so there is no certainty that the fight would hold at all. 

But Anthony Joshua said some weeks ago that he would like to return to boxing before the end of 2022, which means a potential fight could be in the works, but it would take a while before we get more information on that. As for whether Joshua would want to challenge for a title, it remains to be seen what he would want his future to look like.