It's officially fight week! Anthony Joshua's rematch with Oleksandr Usyk in Saudi Arabia represents another fork in the road moment for the former heavyweight champion. On the eve of a potentially career-altering fight, The Sporting News looks back on the four biggest moments that have come to define the former heavyweight champion's career and ponders "what if?" with the 32-year-old boxing superstar.
Welcome to the Anthony Joshua multiverse.
- Part I: Tyson Fury's initial retirement
In 2018, Anthony Joshua had established himself as a massive star overseas. However, he had not yet become a household name in the United States.
That was all set to change when Joshua was scheduled to make his U.S. debut against the undefeated Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller on June 1, 2019, at Madison Square Garden. Miller’s antics at a DAZN launch event the previous year made this a heated rivalry that garnered significant interest in the states.
That is, until "Big Baby" foiled AJ's grand plans to finally win over American boxing fans.
On April 17 — just six weeks before fight night — the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association informed both camps that Miller tested positive for a banned substance. More tests were taken and more banned substances were found. Obviously, Miller was removed from the fight and lost a career-high payday.
MORE: Join DAZN to watch Usyk vs. Joshua 2
However, Joshua wasn’t interested in canceling his stateside debut. After all, it became the highest-grossing boxing pre-sale in the history of Madison Square Garden, an opportunity certainly not worth squandering — even against a lesser opponent.
Joshua needed someone to fight and in stepped Andy Ruiz Jr.
The fight was announced on May 1, just one month before the two combatants would step into the ring. The pudgy Ruiz closed as a 10-1 underdog and was thought to be canon fodder for the musclebound undefeated unified heavyweight champion.
And then disaster struck.
Ruiz pulled himself off the canvas after being knocked down in the third round and shocked the world when he scored a seventh-round knockout. Joshua would later reclaim his titles in a rematch but the indestructible aura was gone. Against a far lesser opponent he was never even supposed to fight, Joshua's first chance to make a statement on American soil vanished.
But what if Miller didn’t fail the drug test and the fight happened as planned?
Although Ruiz Jr. was a massive underdog, he was a skilled fighter with fast hands, an exceptional chin and his only loss to Joseph Parker was highly disputed. Miller had no such accolades. Although he was unbeaten, he had never been tested and his hefty size put his cardio in question.
USYK-JOSHUA 2: PPV & ticket prices | Purse & prize money | How to watch
With Joshua already spending an entire camp focusing on Miller, chances are he would have left MSG with a victory and possibly a knockout that would have set social media ablaze.
A star would be born in the United States that would help bring heavyweight boxing back to prominence.
And then what?
Well, Joshua would have likely done something similar to Tyson Fury where he would split his time fighting in the U.S. and U.K. while finding opportunities to use his newfound star power outside of boxing. It could have been acting, modeling, or other opportunities but Joshua’s marketing appeal would have struck gold in the United States. There’s really no telling how big he could have been.
Anthony Joshua in a Hollywood blockbuster action movie? Sure. What about Anthony Joshua modeling for Rihanna’s Fenty Savage? Why not? Anthony Joshua in a Beyonce video? Of course!
Joshua could have returned in December 2019 with a fight in Los Angeles or Las Vegas before heading back to the U.K. The potential was limitless for Joshua and his ability to help bring boxing into the mainstream would have been profound.
It’s not too far outside the realm of possibilities that Anthony Joshua would have become the biggest boxing attraction in North America, rivaling even Canelo Alvarez.
But the allure was knocked off by Ruiz Jr. and we haven’t seen Joshua stateside since.
It’s possible that Joshua stopping Miller in June 2019 would have led to a showdown with Deontay Wilder for the undisputed heavyweight championship. But Joshua was keen to build his name in the United States and it was all supposed to start with Jarrell Miller.
Depending on how the rest of the heavyweight division shook out, Anthony Joshua could very well have remained undefeated for the next few years. But the knockout loss to Ruiz put a chink in the armor of someone who was thought to be indestructible, forever altering his career and leaving fans, pundits and promoters wondering 'what if?'
