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IBF and WBA heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua posted yesterday on social media that there’s “news coming soon,” and most speculation is that we’ll finally get an announcement of a unification bout with WBO titleholder Joseph Parker of New Zealand.
Joshua (20-0, 20 KO) and Parker (24-0, 18 KO) have been negotiating for a while now, with both previously looking in other directions before enough talk went public that it was clear there’s true interest in the fight on both sides.
There’s been some rockiness — Parker’s team felt lowballed at first — but there have been several encouraging reports in recent weeks, and the fight has been more expected than not for at least the last couple of weeks.
If it does happen, it’s a big fight for the 28-year-old Joshua and 26-year-old Parker. They’re both good, young heavyweights, both hold titles, and the winner would be just the WBC belt from fully unifying the heavyweight division, at least for however long that would last. The WBC belt, of course, is currently held by Deontay Wilder, who faces Luis Ortiz on March 3 in Brooklyn.