The “who will sub in for Jarrell Miller” sweepstakes has been playing out, in fairly frenzied fashion.
Names have been bandied about — some suggested, and then shot down.
An Adam Kownacki (No. 4 IBF, No. 5 WBC) vs Anthony Joshua (WBA, WBO, IBF champ) fight would make sense from a few angles. First, of the remaining and available bodies, Kownacki is perceived to be among the best style matchups for AJ. He’d bring it to the Brit, he’d bang, he’d catch him and get caught. Also, there would be about 3,000 or so Polish fans packed into Madison Square Garden June 1, wearing red and screaming both lungs out.
But AK said he didn’t want to go that route. He said that he’d like more than six weeks to get ready for such a step-up scrap. Can’t fault the guy for that. And we’ve seen that AJ promoter Eddie Hearn said he was told that Kownacki has been promised a fight versus Deontay Wilder. Truth or fiction, I asked Kownacki?
“Wilder has been throwing my name around,” Kownacki answered. “So I’m definitely on his radar. I promised to fight in Brooklyn in mid-summer a week before the Joshua was available. If I look good in my next fight, the Wilder fight is a possibility in the near future.”
Sounds like truth, then. Wilder meets Dominc Breazeale next on May 18, and I’d hazard a guess in saying that if Wilder beats Dom, that near future will be that much closer. And yes, those same 3,000 or so Poles would travel to Brooklyn, too.