Joshua eyeing Parker WBO belt bid in March

ANTHONY Joshua said yesterday that talks over a March fight with Joseph Parker are 95 percent complete as the British boxer bids to become the u n d i s p u t e d h e a v y we i g h t champion of the world.

The 28-year-old currently holds three of the five heavyweight titles, having this year added the WBA and IBO belts to the IBF belt he won in 2016.

He aspires to become the first boxer in history to hold all five titles and thinks a deal to fight WBO champion Parker in the next few months is close.

“What I think can be a reality is, I want to fight for the other championship belts,” Joshua told BBC Five Live when asked what his ambitions were for 2018. “There’s only two left, I have three. There’s five on the table and I have three of them, I want to fight for the fourth one, the WBO heavyweight championship of the world.

“I think we’re 95 percent of the way there with completing with Joseph Parker.”

When asked when a fight with the New Zealander would take place and if it would be on British soil, Joshua added: “End of March, I would say. It has to be [in the UK], the British support, what we’re achieving here is phenomenal.”

Should he defeat Parker, Joshua would then need to take on and beat undefeated WBC champion Deontay Wilder to realise his ambition.

He also suggested he would be willing to fight fellow British boxer Tyson Fury.

“Of course, he’s a lively oppo- nent when he’s fit,” Joshua said of Fury.

“He has his own battles and demons to face and, once he’s got over them, he’s more than welcome to enter a ring with me. It’s something we should be focusing on in 2018.”

Fury has not fought since his shock win against Wladimir Klitschko in November 2015.