Following his big domestic title win over Dillian Whyte, the British champion is going to pursue the European heavyweight title currently held by Robert Helenius.
Joshua wants to take his time by jumping right in to a blockbuster fight with someone like David Haye or current WBO/IBO/WBA heavyweight champion Tyson Fury.
Helenius has two mandatories and won't be allowed a voluntary for some time. He is booked to face Erkan Teper, who may fall out due to a recent drug testing scandal. Then the next mandatory in line is Dereck Chisora, who Helenius struggled to beat several years ago.
"I'd like to say 18 months as time is a virtue. Experience is key for me right now, so the next 12 months will be building. If a shot did come, we would take the opportunity, but if we had it our way I'm sure we'd keep on building for another 12 to 18 months. I'll take my time, bide my time, watch the division. I am a work in progress and once I get a crack at these boys they best run scared because when I come I'll be coming with force," Joshua told Sky Sports.
There was some talk of Joshua facing countryman Dereck Chisora. The fight seemed like it was being built after Chisora was showcased on the Joshua-Whyte undercard on December 12th.
Chisora is not in the plans says Joshua. He wants to focus on defendinghis domestic titles and then pursue the EBU belt, although he doesn't rule out the possibility of facing Chisora down the line.
"There's nothing wrong with fighting Dereck Chisora, but I don't think that's the route we will be going. I'm going to continue down the European route and if we need to defend the British title at times, then potentially [it will be against] the likes of Chisora because I need to fight British fighters.
There's options, which is good, but personally I would like to go down the European route and try and aim for that belt as well as the Commonwealth and British before I get to world level," Joshua said.
Article courtesy of Boxing Scene