Joshua-Klitschko likely for spring 2017

Wladimir Klitschko has been forced to pull out of a potential bout with Anthony Joshua in December after the Ukrainian picked up a minor injury in training.Both parties are still keen to sign a deal though with the date now likely to be in spring with the venue yet to be determined.

Klitschko has not fought in the ring since he lost his WBA, IBF, WBO and IBO belts to Tyson Fury last November in Dusseldorf. A rematch was set to take place between the two men this month, however, Fury was forced to pull out of that fight and subsequently has vacated his belts in the division.

With Klitschko without an opponent, Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Sport has been working hard to try and make the mega-fight with his IBF champion happen. It is unclear at this stage if the WBA belt will be on the line as the sanctioning body have yet to reveal their plans. The WBO title won’t be fought for however, as Joseph Parker and Andy Ruiz are set to meet for that belt in December.

Bookmakers have already opened up betting on the spring fight in which Joshua is 8/11 in the Bet365 boxing betting, while Klitschko is 11/10 to become a world champion again at the age of 40.

Joshua is still set to defend his IBF title in December in Manchester but his opponent has yet to be named. European champion Kubrat Pulev, David Price and American Eric Molina have all been linked with the card. Pulev won his European title with a victory over Britain’s Dereck Chisora back in May in a split decision for the vacant belt. The Bulgarian has one loss on his record which came against Klitschko in 2014 when the Ukrainian knocked him out in the fifth round.

Price, a former British and Commonwealth heavyweight champion, has been on the road to recovery ever since his two losses to Tony Thompson. He’s won six of his last seven bouts, with his only loss coming against Erkan Teper for the European title in Germany.

The Liverpudlian claims he has sparred with Joshua in the gym and has knocked the former Olympic gold medallist out before during those sessions. If Price gets a shot at Joshua for the IBF crown, it will be his first fight for a world title.

Molina, on the other hand, has challenged for a world title before. He was the challenger for Deontay Wilder’s WBC belt in June 2015 where he was stopped in the ninth round by the champion. Since then, he has had two wins, his latest coming over Tomasz Adamek to put himself in the reckoning for another world title shot.
Whoever Hearn chooses as Joshua’s next opponent, the team will be very confident their man can come through the test and keep alive a mega fight with Klitschko in the spring for the IBF crown and still possibly the WBA title, if the latter’s sanctioning body are happy enough to wait until 2017 for their belt to be fought for.