Joshua’s camp seeks to fight Wilder next
LONDON — No sooner had Anthony Joshua beaten Alexander Povetkin on Saturday at Wembley Stadium than attention turned to who the British heavyweight champion would face next.
An eagerly anticipated fight on Dec. 1 will go a long way to clearing that up.
Deontay Wilder, the WBC champion, is scheduled to take on Tyson Fury, the former champion before drug and health issues got in the way, somewhere in Las Vegas. It’s a fight between two unbeaten heavyweights who represent the biggest threat to Joshua (22-0), the WBA, IBF and WBO belt-holder, and could provide his next opponent.
“We want Wilder,” Joshua’s manager, Eddie Hearn said. For Hearn, Wilder vs. Joshua would be one of the biggest fights in boxing history. There’s also the issue of unifying the belts while the opportunity is there. golf: Tom Lewis won the European PGA’S Portugal Masters for a second time after shooting a 5-under 66 in Sunday’s final round. Lewis finished three strokes ahead of fellow Englishman eddie Pepperell (67) and Australia’s Lucas herbert (71). sergio garcia prepared for the Ryder Cup next weekend with a 65 to finish seven strokes behind Lewis . ... steve stricker won the inaugural Sanford International on Sunday for his third PGA Tour Champions title of the year, closing with a 3-under 67 for a four-stroke victory.
Tennis: karolina Pliskova beat Naomi osaka 6-4, 6-4 to win the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo . ... kiki Bertens beat ajla Tomljanovic 7-6 (2), 4-6, 6-2 to win the Korea Open in Seoul. ... dominic Thiem beat Martin klizan 6-3, 6-1 to win the St. Petersburg Open in Russia . ... gilles simon beat Matthias Bachinger 7-6 (2), 6-1 to win the Moselle Open in Metz, France. NHL: The Canadiens agreed to terms on a four-year contract extension with forward Paul Byron. The deal has an average annual value of $3.4 million.