Anthony Joshua has been told to take one of the ‘great fights’ on offer against Daniel Dubois or Joe Joyce, by promoter Frank Warren.
Joshua had seemed set to face Tyson Fury in a bout dubbed the ‘Battle of Britain’ in December before discussions between the two parties fell through last month.
And now the British heavyweight has been told – by Fury’s promoter Warren – that he must make himself the ‘mandatory’ challenger if he wants to face the Gypsy King.
Speaking to iFL TV, Warren said: ‘If [Joshua] wants to fight, there’s two great fights there with Joe Joyce and Daniel Dubois. Both hold very significant positions in their respective organisations.
“They’re both mandatories. One is the interim champion, that’s Joe Joyce. Daniel is the WBA ‘Regular’ champion. There’s another way back if he wants to talk about it.”
Fury and Joshua had been in negotiations over their highly-anticipated bout for weeks before both parties declared the fight was officially off the cards.
The Gypsy King now looks set to face either Mahmoud Charr or Derek Chisora on December 3,
Speaking on the failed clash between Fury and Joshua, Warren said: “It’s off the table. If you look at it, AJ has to get himself in the mandatory position.”
He continued: “To get into the mandatory position, he gets 20 per cent of the purse bid, whereas he would have gotten 40 per cent.”
Warren contended that a fight with Fury will not happen unless Joshua makes himself the mandatory challenger – which he can do by beating either Joyce or Dubois.
Joyce is coming off the back of an impressive knockout win over Joseph Parker in September while Dubois’ last bout saw him deliver the same fate to American Trevor Bryan.
Warren claimed either fighter would be a good match-up for Joshua – who has lost his last two bouts in convincing style to Usyk.
Meanwhile, American heavyweight Deontay Wilder recently claimed it’s only a matter of time before he faces Anthony Joshua in the ‘biggest fight in the world’.
