By Scott Gilfoid: Sounding like he’s got a major chip on his shoulder, Anthony Joshua is vowing to defeat Oleksandr Usyk in April to take back the three heavyweight titles when the two meet in their rematch.
However, it doesn’t appear Joshua is serious about facing Usyk again because Gilfoid has now learned that Joshua is agreeable to a step aside deal.
Interestingly, Joshua is now receptive to taking a rematch clause, wanting £15m for him to step aside to let Tyson Fury face Usyk in his place, according to the Daily Star. The £15m is a steep asking price for a fighter that should be glad to step aside for free so he can be unburdened.
Joshua losing his temper while at the same time making it known that he’s receptive to a step aside seems very strange. If AJ wants to step aside, why get angry? Maybe he’s ashamed?
What Joshua needs now is someone to talk him down from his perch before he does something crazy like signing the contract for the rematch with the talented former undisputed cruiserweight champion.
Joshua says he’s going to beat Usyk to become a three-time champion and regain his throne as the #1 heavyweight on the planet. Oh boy, it looks like someone got Joshua riled up. I don’t see how that can happen if Joshua is going to step aside.
Joshua says he’s going to “reign again”
“Next fight I’m going to beat him and I’m going to take those belts from him,” said Joshua to StuffTV about his desire to take back his titles from Usyk.
“I’m going to reign again to become three-time heavyweight champion of the world, whether people like it or not.”
It’s unclear why Joshua suddenly has got his back up about his humiliating loss to Usyk (19-0, 13 KOs) because it’s been four months already.
You’d think that Joshua would have already worked through his anger by now and speedily set up the rematch with Usyk just as he did after his loss to Andy Ruiz Jr. in 2019.
It’s obviously a bitter pill for Joshua to adjust to with the loss, and him potentially stepping aside to let Fury take the Usyk fight. When you look at it in that light, it makes sense for Joshua to be angry.
With the dough that Joshua can make by stepping aside and facing the Fury vs. Usyk winner, he can cry all the way to the bank.
The fact that the Joshua-Usyk 2 rematch still hasn’t been set up hints of self-doubt on AJ’s part, meaning that he could be thinking of accepting a step aside to flee this predicament.
AJ and Whyte could step aside
Tyson Fury and his promoters at Top Rank have already offered Joshua to take care of his problem for him by facing Usyk, and thus far, AJ has been playing coy with the idea, tip-toeing around it but dropping hints that he’s receptive.
“We are all still moving toward Joshua vs. Usyk and Fury vs. Whyte but there are still people who would like to see Fury vs. Usyk for the undisputed and would be willing to pay a lot of money for it,” said Eddie Hearn via the Daily Star.
“If there is a lot of money in the pot and there can be a plan put in place to make all the fighters happy then there is a chance it can happen, but the problem is time.”
For the step aside deal to work for Joshua-Usyk, WBA mandatory Dillian Whyte will need to be paid a step to clear Tyson Fury from this fight so he can face Usyk for the undisputed championship.
Whyte reportedly wants in the neighborhood of £5m for his step aside, but also he wants to be guaranteed a shot against the Fury vs. Usyk winner.
That won’t work because Joshua is the one that the organizers will want to face the Fury-Usyk winner, not Whyte. Dillian will get his shot eventually, but not until AJ faces the winner.