ANTHONY JOSHUA is yet another hurdle away from his dream of undisputed heavyweight supremacy.
Joshua agreed terms with Tyson Fury to put, for the first time ever, all four titles in the blue riband division on the line in August.
But Fury was then ordered by an arbitrator to fulfil his contracted trilogy bout with Deontay Wilder.
It instead left AJ to face mandatory challenger Oleksandr Usyk this Saturday at Tottenham’s stadium.
Joshua will hope a win again puts him in line to fight Fury, but if history repeats itself, several other challengers wait in the wings, and here SunSport runs down that list.
Tyson Fury
Boxing fans will pray, should Joshua, 31, and Fury, 33, both come out of their respected fights still champions, the all-English unification can finally commence.
They have both made it clear there is no other option they want more and with all the money to be made it is surely a no-brainer.
But AJ recently likened it to Floyd Mayweather’s fight with Manny Pacquiao, which took over five years to make but broke pay-per-view records.
Everyone involved will hope the Battle of Britain has the same success, but came be resolved much sooner than half a decade’s time.
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Joe Joyce
Joyce, 35, was in line to fight Usyk, 34, for the WBO ‘interim’ title while Joshua was in talks with Fury.
But after that collapsed, Usyk was instead given his shot at AJ while Joyce was made the new mandatory.
It should guarantee him a crack at the belt, but now the WBO are behind the WBA and IBF in the queue for mandatory fights.
Joyce could be made to wait, but his ranking gives him a great chance of fighting AJ in the future.
Dillian Whyte
Whyte, 33, beat Joshua in their 2009 amateur fight but was stopped when they rematched in the professional ranks six years later.
He is now gunning for Fury’s belt after a relentless period of waiting as the WBC’s No1 ranked challenger.
Whyte has called to get his opportunity against Fury before AJ and wants the backing of the WBC to do so.
But, a rematch with Joshua is a massive draw if terms cannot be agreed elsewhere and promoter Eddie Hearn has the pair in his stable already.
Deontay Wilder
If Fury is mandated to fight Whyte, it eliminates two of the three biggest British heavyweights in the game.
And even if Wilder is once again beaten by Fury, his history of failed talks with AJ, and proven punching power, will always appeal to fans.
Furthermore, if the American, 35, is successful in gaining revenge of Fury in October, it makes a fight between Wilder and Joshua as big as ever.
The Bronze Bomber has made it clear AJ is the man he wants next if he reclaims his WBC belt.
Oleksandr Usyk rematch
If Joshua is beaten by Usyk, he has a rematch clause in his contract.
But boxing is a funny old game, and even if AJ wins, or draws, a rematch with the Ukrainian cannot be ruled out.
Usyk is the type of opponent you wouldn’t queue up to fight, so doing so twice would be remarkable.
But, Joshua is fearsomely competitive and if there is any doubt after Saturday, he’d be the first to try and settle it.
