Anthony Joshua should avoid a fight with American prospect, Jared Anderson according to former world champion, Sergio Mora.
Joshua’s promoter, Eddie Hearn confirmed that last week that the former two-time heavyweight world champion is in talks over a two-fight deal with Turki Alalshikh’s Riyadh Season, with both Anderson and Dillian Whyte named as potential options.
Anderson was seen as the future of the division, until he suffered a devastating fifth round knockout loss to Martin Bakole last August in Los Angeles.
The 25-year-old got back to winning ways in February with a comfortable points victory over Marios Kollias and Mora feels the Ohio man would be a dangerous comeback fight for ‘AJ’, who is coming off a fifth round stoppage defeat to Daniel Dubois and has just undergone successful elbow surgery.
“I think if he comes back against Anderson, it’s going to be tricky,” Mora said on Chris Mannix’s YouTube channel.
“Because Joshua still has maybe one big mega fight, hopefully against Tyson Fury left.
“But Jared Anderson could ruin those plans.
“Anderson we expected him to do better against Bakole, but he got knocked out, but he bounced back.
“I love when fighters bounce back within a matter of months.
“That means he’s still hungry, he still wants to reach the highest levels of boxing, he still wants to fight the best.
“I think Anderson is going to be a tricky fight for AJ.
“I wouldn’t recommend him to fight him first.”
Instead Mora has advised the 35-year-old to target a rematch with Dillian Whyte, who he stopped in 2015.
The pair were set to fight again in 2023, but Whyte was withdrawn after failing a drugs test.
The Brixton man was cleared to resume his career in March 2024, after an investigation confirmed that the positive test was caused by a contaminated supplement.
The 37-year-old has won three on the spin since defeat to Tyson Fury in April 2022 and is set to return on Saturday on the undercard of Fabio Wardley’s clash with Justis Huni in Ipswich.
“Dillian Whyte he should fight first,” he added.
“Even though Dillian Whyte is on a scary trajectory right now.
“He’s on a run right now, he’s winning some fights.
“He deserves that fight, but he’s already been beaten by AJ, so there’s familiarity right there by Anthony Joshua.
“So if you are going to take those two fights, go for Dillian Whyte, who’s long in the tooth.
“He has momentum, but you’ve already been in the ring with him, you felt that power.”
