Anthony Joshua could be stripped of one of his newly-won belts before his next fight, because of. a reematch clause with Wladimir Klitschko.
Joshua added IBO and WBA Super World Heavyweight belts to the IBF belt that he already held by knocking out the Ukrainian last week.
But now he could have to give up the IBF title, just as Tyson Fury did after defeating Klitschko, because the federation has a mandatory challenger who he must fight next. And Joshua would be happy to do the same, with a rematch prioritised over a bout with mandatory challenger Kubrat Pulev. ‘Talks with the IBF and Pulev’s promoter Team Sauerland are ongoing,’ his promoter Eddie Hearn told the Sun.
‘By the weekend we should have some clarity but it
is very complicated. ‘We don’t want to drop the IBF belt but if we have to we’ll have no problem doing exactly that. ‘We won’t let boxing politics get in the way of AJ’s
progression. Ideally, we want all the belts but when
you get close, it becomes difficult because of situations like this.
‘This is not going away, the IBF always follow their
rules just as they did with Fury. ‘We could look to do a deal with Pulev and try to make an interim bout for the belt.”
