Hearn wants Anthony Joshua vs. Tyson Fury next year

By Boxing News - 01/06/2016 - Comments

joshua1234By Scott Gilfoid: Barry Hearn is hoping that IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Tyson Fury stays unbeaten until next year so that he can match his fighter Anthony Joshua against him in a fight in the summer of 2017.

Hearn believes that the fight between the two tall British heavyweights would be a huge fight if the two of them could stay unbeaten that long. Hearn thinks that Joshua, 26, will be a heavyweight world champion by the end of 2016.

Just which title Joshua will be targeting is unclear? For Joshua to get a world title shot, he’ll need to be a mandatory, because I don’t see any of the champions just giving Joshua a title shot to be kind to him and Hearn. Why should they?

Even if Joshua were to become a mandatory challenger to one of the champions in the next six months, he’d still likely need to wait until that champion exhausted all of their voluntary defenses before he could get his shot at a world title, and it could take a long time before he finally got a crack at a title.

“Tyson Fury is a huge fight but there’s no rush. The danger is that Fury gets beaten by somebody – that could happen unfortunately because I’m not a big fan of his technique,” Hearn said to skysports.com. “But if Fury does stay unbeaten then, next summer, that’s the biggest fight in British boxing history.”

Hearn is wrong about there not being any rush for a fight against Fury. If he’s smart, he’ll try and make that fight as fast as possible before Fury gets whipped by WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder. I see that fight taking place later this year if Fury beats Klitschko in a rematch. Fury obviously knows how much money he could make from a fight against the 6’7” Wilder.

It would be huge money. Heck, Fury is probably deluded enough to think he can beat Wilder. That is why I see him immediately looking to fight Deontay after the Klitschko fight. I don’t think Fury is going to win the Klitschko rematch, but if he does, then he’ll go after Wilder next rather than waste time fighting Joshua, because I think more money is on the table for a fight against Deontay than Joshua.

“Joshua will be world heavyweight champion by the end of 2016,” Hearn said. “It’s just a question of getting him a fight because there isn’t a heavyweight out there that can survive Anthony Joshua. Not in the slightest chance.”

I hate to drizzle on Hearn’s parade, but Joshua is beatable. Dillian Whyte would have likely done it if he did not suffer a shoulder injury in the second round of their fight last December. We saw how Whyte was able to stagger Joshua and almost knock him out. Joshua is too aggressive for his own good in attacking his opposition in all-out attacks, and this makes him very, very easy to hit.

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Joshua can’t fight on the outside worth a darn due to his lack of flexibility because of all the muscles he has on his 245lb frame. This means that when Joshua gets inside the ring with a healthy heavyweight with two good shoulders and excellent punching power, I see him losing that fight by a knockout.

“This boy [Joshua is going to be something very special for a very long time. He will hold a version of the world championship,” Hearn said.

Hearn is going to be in mourning big time when Joshua gets beaten by someone. Hearn has crowned the guy before he’s even fought a solid heavyweight. I can’t even see Joshua beat a flawed heavyweight like Tyson, let alone a talent like Deontay. I think Hearn needs to relax and enjoy the nice paydays that Joshua is getting against the fodder that he’s been facing, because I see the gravy train ending once Joshua gets inside the ring with someone that can punch back, and against someone that doesn’t break down physically after just 2 rounds like we saw with Joshua’s last opponent Whyte. Can you imagine what would have happened if Whyte hadn’t injured his left shoulder? I think Joshua would have been knocked out by him by the 4th round.



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