Anthony Joshua is unlikely to fight Oleksandr Usyk if the Ukrainian beats Tyson Fury.

That is according to Usyk’s promoter, Alex Krassyuk. Usyk and Joshua have already faced each other on two occasions. Their first bout took place in 2021 as Usyk won a unanimous decision. The victory made him the Unified Heavyweight Champion of the world, as he picked up the WBA, WBO and IBF belts. The rematch took place a year later in Saudi Arabia.

While Joshua put on an improved performance, he still came up short, losing a split decision. But since then, Joshua has managed to bounce back. He has teamed up with Ben Davidson, emphatically stopping his last two opponents.

The Brit made Otto Wallin quit on the stool while knocking out Francis Ngannou in his last fight. The WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman recently said they would allow Joshua to face the winner of Fury and Usyk. Turki Alalshikh also stated something similar. But Krassyuk felt a third fight with Joshua made no sense given how the first two bouts played out.

Usyk’s Promoter

“I am not sure AJ wants the third one deep in his heart. It seems to be dangerous. It might look like a gambling addiction to many. After you’ve lost money on roulette, you come back full of confidence. You bet twice or three times more than you’ve lost, expecting your bet to win. But in the end, you realize that you have lost everything.

“One more thing that makes their third fight less probable is the sequence of the mandatories. As we all know, the next stop of the carousel is IBF, not the WBC. No matter who wins, the rematch goes next as we will enforce it. And even if the IBF let it [the mandatory] go, after the second fight – the IBF is next in line, not the WBC,” Krassyuk said

Joshua’s Future

That means Joshua needs Fury to come out on top in both fights to fight for undisputed. But that does not mean that there are no big fights for Joshua. The Fury fight is still a mega domestic clash, even if the Gypsy King loses to Usyk. There had been talks over making the Joshua fight for some time. Fury’s camp made a 60-40 offer before they faced Derek Chisora.

Joshua’s team said that unrealistic deadlines meant the fight never went ahead. The same offer was made for the summer last year. But Joshua’s team decided to take on Robert Helenius instead. There is also the option of revisiting the Deontay Wilder fight.

Joshua was meant to face the Bronze Bomber as both had signed a two-fight deal. That was dependent on both boxers winning their next fights. Joshua beat Wallin, but Wilder failed to get past Joseph Parker. Joshua has since then not ruled out the Wilder fight, making it possible later. But for now, a third bout with Usyk seems unlikely.

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