Anthony Joshua: Heavyweight boxing landscape like Game of Thrones as rivals battle for supremacy

At the show's core is a complex web of promises, lies, deceit, treachery and conflict and Joshua sees parallels with the current heavyweight playing field

Anthony Joshua says boxing's trio of undefeated heavyweight kings are currently playing their very own Game of Thrones but warned that fans will switch off eventually.

Joshua, 29, returns to action on June 1 when he takes on Andy Ruiz Jr at Madison Square Garden in what will be the Londoner's American debut although it is not the opponent that many fans would have selected.

Late stand-in Ruiz Jr is a perfectly acceptable defence for the WBA, WBO and IBF champion following Jarrell Miller's series of failed VADA tests, but it is the much discussed showdowns involving Joshua, WBC belt holder Deontay Wilder and 'lineal' heavyweight champion Tyson Fury that the sport craves.

Now Joshua has compared his situation to HBO's wildly-popular fantasy drama Game of Thrones, where various warring factions lay claim to the Iron Throne and therefore ultimate power.

At the show's core is a complex web of promises, lies, deceit, treachery and conflict. And, for Joshua, there are parallels with the current heavyweight landscape.

“We're all trying to be the leader of the world,” said Joshua. “That's where we're trying to get to.

“There are some complications along the way. You have governing bodies and powerful, powerful TV companies and everyone has their own vested interest. Our's is just to fight the best, Others’ is to fight against people they can learn from.

“But people are still developing. Broadcasters want to build up their fighter before they sling them in so they can make a return on their investment.

“Promoters need to look good so they want to put their fighters in with the best or second best. It's weird.

“We're playing the Game of Thrones but I don't know why, I don't know what's happening, and it's the fans that are missing out.” The show's famous tagline ominously declares that Winter is Coming, and although Joshua is not quite so cryptic, the world heavyweight champion was unable to suggest that the cold war between broadcasters, particularly in America, shows any sign of thawing.

Joshua is aligned with DAZN in the USA while Fury, 30, recently penned a 30-month contract with Stateside giant ESPN. Wilder, meanwhile, has an affiliation with Showtime, who can offer him big purses via pay-per-view sales.

Joshua is back in camp ahead of his fight with Ruiz Jr (Action Images via Reuters)

“There are some really good players in the division at the moment,” Joshua added. “Really good promoters and really good broadcasters who are pushing.

“DAZN is a new one, Sky have been strong in the business, BT, ESPN, HBO have just pulled out, Showtime... It's just amazing what's happening in the history of the sport at the minute with so many dominant heavyweights.

“As simple as it seems — why don't the best fight the best? It's what's in the background. Everyone has their own vested interest of where they are going to push their fighter.”

Joshua's promoter Eddie Hearn has tried and failed to make fights with both Wilder and Fury but the current situation with their respective US broadcasters makes the encounters seem currently more unlikely than ever.

In March, Wilder snubbed a $100m deal with DAZN which included two fights with Joshua once he had successfully defended his WBC title against Dominic Breazeale later this month.

The heavyweight division is crowded and confused (Action Images via Reuters)

Instead, Wilder decided to take on Breazeale, who was stopped in the seventh round of his 2016 clash with Joshua, live on Showtime and will remain a free agent thereafter.

“I just don't understand sitting down with them,” Joshua said, when asked whether face-to-face meetings with the relevant parties might help to get the potential mega-fights finalised.

“What more we can make out of it because we have made lucrative offers to fight these guys.

“We made an offer to Fury, he didn't want the percentage fee, he wanted a flat fee. But when you work out what the percentage would have been it would still have been a higher percentage in terms of the pot.

“We made an offer to Dillian [Whyte], we made an offer to [Luis] Ortiz and he took far less to fight Wilder.

“So I look at it and think, 'What difference is it going to make to these guys?' Are they just going to say they want more or is it not about the dough?

“I have what they want, the four belts [IBF, WBA, WBO and IBO]. In Game of Thrones, what's going to happen if someone holds the most power? They rule the Seven Kingdoms.

“So imagine someone said, I'll give you 10 more troops than me? I'm giving these guys a lucrative offer to fight me, which they can invest into their training, and they can come and fight me for the keys or the rings.

“And the people outside are looking at it and saying, 'This is your chance, take it'.”