Heavyweight champ Joshua back in ring and has plenty to lose

ANTHONY Joshua’s seemingly inexorable journey to being undisputed heavyweight champion of the world has gotten a little bumpy over the last two years.

First there was the loss to Andy Ruiz Jr. that no one saw coming at Madison Square Garden in June 2019, least of all Joshua after 22 straight wins to open his professional career.

Then came a pandemic that has limited Joshua — at his physical prime in his early 30s — to one fight since the start of 2020.

And, most recently, there was the legal ruling which scuppered the proposed Aug. 14 fight against Tyson Fury in Saudi Arabia that would have given one of the Britons every belt in boxing’s marquee division.

That legacy-defining fight against Fury is still on the table — and with it a payday of as much as $100 million each — but it’s endangered by an opponent Joshua must