In his latest tweet, Anthony Joshua has come up with a new prompt. Why can’t Alex Pereira try his hand at boxing, too? ‘Poatan’ defeated Jiri Prochazka in a rematch to establish his supremacy in the UFC’s light heavyweight division. Needless to say, the suggestion has raised considerable eyebrows and sparked conversations across the combat sports world. The last week of June witnessed some heated developments in the heavyweight division. With Oleksandr Usyk vacating his IBF title to become a unified heavyweight champion once again after being an undisputed one, Daniel Dubois finally became a world champion once again. But it has also brought its own set of challenges.

He found himself pitted against none other than Anthony Joshua. The fellow Brit perhaps wants to become a world championship holder for a third time before trying his luck against either Tyson Fury or Oleksandr Usyk. Joshua and Dubois will now meet on September 21 at London’s Wembley Stadium. It will be the year’s second Riyadh season show for ‘AJ’. On March 8, the 34-year-old Olympic gold medalist delivered a statement win over Francis Ngannou. He knocked out the former UFC heavyweight champion during ‘Knockout Chaos’ at Riyadh’s Kingdom Arena.

Chama! Anthony Joshua on Alex Pereira embarking on a boxing journey

The former unified heavyweight boxing champion wrote that the Brazilian MMA fighter and kickboxer should make an attempt in the squared circle. “Alex Pereira should make a boxing debut one day,” said ‘AJ’. The tweet didn’t miss its mark among scores of fans on either side of the fence.

A few MMA diehards suggested that it was about time boxers made their presence felt in the Octagon. One fan replied, “Nah, it’s about time we see some boxers go into the octagon.” Then another user shot back at Anthony Joshua, saying that he should make his debut in mixed martial arts instead.

But one user decided to dig a bit deeper and shared that, incidentally, Alex Pereira has already made his boxing debut. It happened seven years ago. On June 17, 2017, the ‘Poatan’, who celebrates his 37th birthday today, fought fellow Brazilian Marcelo de Souza Cruz in front of a Sao Paulo crowd and dispatched him in the third round of the four-round bout.

But still, ‘AJ’ should be lauded for sending an invitation to one of the biggest faces in the mixed martial arts world. One can only imagine Pereira going against the likes of Artur Beterbiev or Dmitry Bivol if he decides to stick with boxing’s light heavyweight’ or, who knows, he may end up meeting Oleksandr Usyk, who mentioned going back to the cruiserweight some time ago.

‘AJ’ closing in on greatness

For the time being, fans can look forward to ‘AJ’s second bout of the year against Daniel Dubois. The two nearly went at each other during a face-off and had to be kept away. A win over the newly ordained IBF champion might open several doors for Joshua. He has been giving it his all to make a comeback into mainstream fighting after the consecutive losses to Usyk.

But admirably, he adopted a measured step to gradually get back to form. Starting with the Jermaine Franklin fight last year, the Olympic gold medalist went after a heavyweight a notch higher. After the Otto Wallin fight, it was time to test himself against a big name. Enter Francis Ngannou, who dazzled the boxing world with his performance against Tyson Fury.

But ‘The Predator’ proved no match for the power shots of Anthony Joshua, going down in the first round and then finally yielding in the second round. Fans must be eagerly waiting to see how the September fight goes for AJ as he enters what could be the final chapter of his glorious career.

Do you also feel Alex Pereira should follow suit like so many and give boxing a shot?