Anthony Joshua vs Wladimir Klitschko is too big a business opportunity to miss - its time will surely come

The pair should eventually go head-to-head in the ring, writes Steve Bunce, but only when Klitschko is ready for it

Anthony Joshua and Wladimir Klitschko have the chance to make millions (Getty)

No Wlad, sorry.

It was nearly seven weeks ago when a plan for Anthony Joshua to fight Wladimir Klitschko started to form from the debris left of Tyson Fury’s breakdown.

However, the fight will not happen in December, as promised, planned and desired, but it could happen next March or April, probably at an outdoor venue and with a marketing campaign that will include a mini world tour. It remains a massive event, it just happens to be a massive event that is not taking place anytime soon and it was always a doubt. And, at the same time it was always a possibility in a business that adapts with shocking ease when the magic million mark is exceeded: Joshua against Klitschko is very big business.

Fury's mental state deteriorated further when his cocaine use emerged and it was at that crucial moment in late September that the Joshua and Klitschko fight was instantly both closer and further away. Boxing is a business where the truth is often a lie and everybody involved with this fight was talking, pledging allegiance to a fight that was both fantastic and pure fantasy inside the allotted time scale. Klitschko and his people were never in a rush and have never been in a rush to bank a penny less than they believe they deserve; the fight needed more than six weeks to generate the most cash.

As expected, Fury, who is now one month clean and sober, vacated his WBA and WBO title belts, casting them off like a busted life-jacket to the sharks circling his sinking ship. The WBO version was claimed by New Zealand's Joseph Parker and he will fight Andy Ruiz in December; there is a mandate for the winner to face David Haye, a fight that will require balletic swiftness in the negotiating room.

The WBA belt is at the very core of the collapsed Joshua-Klitschko fight, its gaudy red presence, as the bounty for a fight between the pair, had not yet been determined when Klitschko pulled out of the fight that was not taking place, with an injury that is not really an injury. Well, not the type of injury that would stop him fighting, just the type of injury that would stop him fighting Joshua at such short notice. Klitschko had demanded clarity from the WBA for weeks, which is a magic trick the Ukrainian with a doctorate could simply not pull off.


 Wladimir Klitschko moves to his own pace within the world of boxing 
 (Getty)

The men and women that run the increasingly mercurial WBA, which has three very distinct world champions in each of the 17 different weight categories, have been debating the vacant belt's destination since Fury surrendered ownership. Twelve days ago Eddie Hearn, Joshua's promoter, was convinced the WBA would agree to the fight and that it would happen on December 10 in Manchester. His faith was misguided, his disbelief genuine, but he was not lying.

There was a definite window for the fight had the WBA seen sense and attached it to the planned fight, a fight that would only potentially happen if the WBA belt was attached! It was a comic merry-go-round, nobody was laughing and now Klitschko with a "minor" injury will go on holiday with his family. Joshua will finish off in the gym for a defence of his IBF belt in Manchester on the agreed date. Joshua looks increasingly likely to fight Liverpool's David Price, who claims to have knocked out Joshua in a sparring session; it was an incident Joshua will dismiss, but one Price will depend on when they fight for real.

When that fight is over on the night, there is every chance that ringside guest Klitschko will initiate the next and hopefully final round of talks; Joshua will fight Klitschko, but only when the 40-year-old former champion is ready.