‘Pick the phone up’ – Anthony Joshua offered British blockbuster with Joe Joyce in the summer by promoter Frank Warren
ANTHONY JOSHUA has been told to pick up the phone if he is serious about fighting Joe Joyce.
The two-time heavyweight champion returns on Saturday at the O2 Arena against Jermaine Franklin.
But victory would put him back on track for a massive 2023 and he named Joyce among those he is interested in fighting.
In response, Warren told talkSPORT: “Well he hasn’t got to go far if he wants to fight him, just pick the phone up.
“Provided my man comes through and he comes through, we could do that in the summer. Not a problem.”
Joyce, 37, returns on April 15 against China’s Zhilei Zhang, 39, and is the WBO mandatory challenger.
Meanwhile Joshua, 33, looks to bounce back from consecutive losses to Oleksandr Usyk, 36, in his must-win comeback bout.
After Usyk’s title unification against Tyson Fury, 34, collapsed, AJ’s promoter Eddie Hearn hinted at reviving talks with the Gypsy King.
And American superstar Deontay Wilder, 37, is also a free agent now, leaving Joshua with three super-fights on the table.
He said: “If you were to ask me what my ambitions are, one is to fight for the heavyweight championship of the world.
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“The second is my motivation to make money and the third is to fight Deontay Wilder, Tyson Fury and Joe Joyce.”
Despite Hearn’s hopes to kickstart negotiations with Fury’s team, Joshua believes a fight with Wilder is more likely.
He told told Dan Rafael: “It seems like Deontay Wilder’s more realistic, because I just think that the stuff that goes on with Fury is a bit crazy, man.
“I’ve been in this situation for a long time – even with them two I’ve been in this same situation – but I just feel like Deontay’s coming to a stage in his career where he’s realistic.
“It’s not like, ‘I just want this fight’, I think he needs it. So that’s more realistic if I’m honest with you, especially with the place that we’re both at in our careers.”