Wednesday 23 November 2016 07:57, UK
Lennox Lewis fully expects Anthony Joshua's planned fight with Wladimir Klitschko to go ahead as he believes the Ukrainian is desperate to regain his world titles.
IBF champion Joshua will defend his belt against Eric Molina at Manchester Arena on December 10, live on Sky Sports Box Office, and he could pave the way for a huge showdown with Klitschko next spring.
The WBA has sanctioned a fight between Joshua and Klitschko for the WBA 'super' title and Lewis feels the 40-year-old will go ahead with the bout as he will be eager to reclaim two of the belts he lost in a points defeat to Tyson Fury.
"The heavyweight scene is open right now," said Lewis, who held the WBC, WBA and IBF titles during his reign as heavyweight champion.
"Tyson Fury is going through problems and right now obviously Klitschko wants to get his belts back.
Will that fight happen? I think it will do, because Anthony Joshua has got one of his world titles, one of his belts.
"He wants to beat the man that beat him, but he doesn't have that opportunity and he was put in there against somebody else. That's not his mind-set, that's not the man he wants, he wants the man that beat him.
"Will that fight happen? I think it will, because Anthony Joshua has got one of his world titles, one of his belts. He wants that belt back and I think it should be the next big match-up."
Lewis suffered surprise defeats to Oliver McCall and Hasim Rahman during his ring career and has warned Joshua not to overlook the threat posed by Molina, who has 19 knockouts in his 25 wins.
"Obviously you've got to be careful because anybody who is a heavyweight can knock you out," said Lewis. "You cannot go in there thinking this guy's easy.
"He's going to go in there and get rid of him in proper fashion."
Watch Joshua vs Molina, live on Sky Sports Box Office, from the Manchester Arena, on December 10. Book the event online here.
