The Fury-Usyk domino falling is huge for Joshua.

It’s been nearly a foregone conclusion since the moment the split decision was announced that Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury would face each other again in a rematch later this year. Fury said as much in the ring just minutes after Usyk beat him.

As soon as that idea began floating around, the IBF was put into a tough position. The boxing federation hasn’t made a final decision on whether Usyk will be allowed to keep that belt up until the rematch with Fury. Technically, Filip Hrgovic is the IBF’s mandatory challenger and Usyk would generally be “forced” to fight him.

Anthony Joshua to fight for vacant IBF belt?

Although the IBF president has said that Usyk can request for an exception to be made, it still seems likely he’ll be stripped of it. That would put Anthony Joshua in a fantastic position.

Joshua has been eyeing the winner of the June 1 fight between Hrgovic and Daniel Dubois regardless of whether it would be for a belt. Now, it’s possible that Joshua has been put into a world title fight position just by being patient.

The 34-year-old heavyweight hasn’t held a world title since losing all of his belts to Usyk in September of 2021. He failed to beat Usyk a second time before going on a four-fight win streak, with his latest being a dominant KO victory over Francis Ngannou.