The political dilemma facing Anthony Joshua to become the undisputed heavyweight champion

On Saturday, June 1, 2019, undefeated heavyweight multi-world champion Anthony Joshua, 22-0-0 (21KO),  is set to fight Andy Ruiz Jr, 32-1-0 (21KO), in yet again defending his IBF, IBO, WBA, and WBO Heavyweight world titles.

Many in the boxing world have compared Anthony Joshua, Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury, as  boxing’s flagship division that can be compared to the greats of the former heavyweights, Lennox Lewis, Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield who were all in competition in that weight class for many of the world titles in the late 1990s.

Unfortunately there is a dilemma that is haunting this weight class.  The current boxers, Joshua, Wilder and Fury are not fighting each other.

When Joshua defends his title against Ruiz Jr. at the Madison Square Garden in the New York, the majority of the focus will be on that particular fight, and a bout that is not even happening.  Joshua, who is chasing the final belt has proven extremely difficult for Joshua, who was also the 2012 Olympic gold medallist.

Joshua, who is chasing the final belt has proven extremely difficult for Joshua, who was also the 2012 Olympic gold medallist.

Unfortunately, in the nature of boxing in general there are many obstacles involved in winning multiple titles and working with promoters and organizing these huge fights in the sport.

In order for a Joshua vs. Wilder mega fight—the promoters would need to come to an agreement.

Negotiations between promoters Eddie Hearn and Shelley Finkel, who is the manager of Wilder, and become public and personal over recent times.  With even Hearn referring to Finkel as “Shirley Winkle” on many occasions.

Negotiations get extremely rocky, when the promoters have grudges against each other that have gone on for extended amount of time.  History will speak to this dilemma when many great fights that could have happened were never made due to grudges between promoters.

Many of the issues for negotiations center around a greater share of pay-per-view and ticket revenue, and the ability to secure sponsorship deals and to do everything that can be done to hold those rights.

Another issue is venue, the size of the ring, even minor details like which fighter will enter the ring first, or even as menial as who takes which dressing room.

Tim Rickson, a boxing agent, and is the editor of British Boxing News gave his thoughts on this issue, saying says promoters unwilling to cede ground to their rivals can also get in the way of their own fighters’ interests.  One of Rickson’s clients includes former British and Commonwealth middleweight champion Tommy Langford.

“It’s business, but a lot of ego comes into it as well, that power play comes into it where they’re trying to be the biggest promoter with the biggest backing and the biggest fanbase.  Often the fighter is willing but then sometimes the conflicting promoters’ interests – and now the bigger problem, which is the TV broadcast deals – can result in the fight not being made, ” added Rickson.

In February 2019, Tyson Fury signed a five-fight, £80m American broadcasting contract with ESPN, following in the footsteps of Joshua and Wilder, who have similarly valuable deals with DAZN and Showtime, respectively.

With these three top-world heavyweights, the big three now are all tied up with separate stations, and the negotiations look close to unworkable.

Rickson said,  “If you’re ESPN and you’ve put £80m into a fighter, you’re not going to let him have a rematch with Deontay Wilder on Showtime.   “Will ESPN say they will step down to let Showtime put it on, or vice versa? No.”

“They both want the fight, they have both paid for the fight, they both deserve the fight. They aren’t going to give up their rights to profit from it.” said Rickson.

Rival broadcasters have occasionally found common ground in the past. A great example of that was when Floyd Mayweather fought Manny Pacquiao in 2015.  In that situation  HBO and Showtime aired the bout as a joint production, but that was the the first collaboration between the networks since 2002.

But with that said, the protracted negotiations pushed that fight back five years later than when it should have taken place, disappointing boxing fans for many years.

There is always a great incentive for promoters to keep their fighters away the top and most dangerous fighters so to stale those bouts as long as possible, and heighten the hype around the bout.  It definitely increases its financial potential, and allows boxers, i.e., like Joshua and Wilder, to remain undefeated as long as possible.

Rickson referred to this dilemma as the “Mayweather effect”.

Rickson said that he feels that Floyd Mayweather is to blame in an indirect way, and that there is a new influx of casual boxing fans who only get up for the big fights and aren’t really purists.

Rickson said, when a fighter gets a loss on his record he is now almost dismissed, which is absolutely nonsensical to a hardcore fan.

“It’s that Mayweather effect – promoters don’t want their fighters to take a loss because they could be dismissed and lose a big following, which would result in fewer tickets sold and fewer pay-per-views,” said Rickson.

What can be a potential hazard to the top boxers is when delaying big fights, it can bring a couple of risks into play.  For one the mandatory challengers.

Sanctioning bodies can rule that their top-ranked challengers have earned a shot at the title, forcing a champion like Joshua to defend one of his belts, rather than go fighting for a new one.

If these belt holders put off defending their world titles, by are at risk of being stripped of that title(s).  We have also seen that challengers can get lucky that night fighting a top fighter and win the bout!

In the sport of boxing, anything can happen.  Injuries, headbutts, failing drug tests and the list goes on.

That is a perfect example of what recently happened when  Joshua and Hearn have had to deal with Jarrell Miller – who was meant to be the opponent on 1 June. He tested positive for three banned substances, and ultimately was replaced by Ruiz Jr.

There’s also the chance that the opponent they have been been wanting to fight may lose before a deal is done—a situation that occurred when Joshua nearly suffered in December 2018 when Wilder fought to a draw against Tyson Fury.

The question now is should Wilder’s rematch with Fury go ahead before Joshua gets his hands on the WBC champion?