Joshua could be ordered to defend WBO title after Povetkin fight

Boxingnews.com

By Scott Gilfoid

The World Boxing Organiation is considering ordering WBO heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua to make a mandatory defense of his title with their organization after his September 22 title defense against Alexander Povetkin at Wembley Stadium in London, England.

Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn is hoping that his next fight after the defense against Povetkin will be a unification match against WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder on April 13 at Wembley Stadium. That’s what Hearn says officially, but it’s believed that his real desire for Joshua is to defend his IBF/WBA/WBO titles against fellow Matchroom Sport stable fighter Dillian Whyte on April 13 or against Jarrell ‘Big Baby’ Miller. Whyte, 30, is ranked No.2 in the WBO’s rankings behind #1 Povetkin.

As long as the WBO doesn’t order Whyte to fight in an official eliminator, which he would likely reject like he did after the WBC ordered him to fight Luis Ortiz in an eliminator recently, he should be fine. As long as Whyte doesn’t have to work for the WBO mandatory spot, he’ll likely grab it with both hands and challenge Joshua on April 13 for his WBO title.

Whyte (24-1, 17 KOs) recently beat former WBO heavyweight champion Joseph Parker by a 12 round unanimous decision on July 28. The victory for Whyte helped him get moved up to the number 2 spot in the WBO’s top 15 rankings.

The WBO said this to Skysports.com in a statement:

“With respect to our WBO heavyweight champion Mr. Anthony Joshua, be advised that Joshua has 180 days counting from the date of his last compulsory defense (after the Alexander Povetkin bout) to fulfill his mandatory defense obligations. Be advised that at this time the WBO has yet to determine if a WBO heavyweight elimination contest will be ordered.”

If the WBO does order Whyte to fight in an eliminator against the highest rated contender in the WBO’s rankings, then he would likely be ordered to face #3 WBO Jarrell ‘Big Baby’ Miller, who also is signed with Matchroom Sport promoter Eddie Hearn. Whyte and Miller will almost surely reject the WBO eliminator fight, because they’ll get a title shot against Joshua without having to fight in a risky title eliminator. Whyte is likely going to be totally resistant to the idea of fighting a good contender to earn his way to a title shot against Joshua. Heck, Whyte should have lost to Joseph Parker if the referee Ian John Lewis was on his JOB instead of blowing calls on and failing to penalize Whyte for his fouling Parker all night long. I don’t think for a second Whyte will want to fight someone good without an alert referee that is doing a good job working the fight instead making a mess of things.

“Further, the involvement of our WBO international heavyweight champion Mr. Dillian Whyte in a WBO heavyweight elimination bout is uncertain,” the WBO added.

I think it’s pretty obvious that Whyte will be Joshua’s opponent for April 13 next year, and I don’t think for a second Dillian will agree to an eliminator.

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