By Scott Gilfoid: British heavyweight Anthony Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn says he’s not looking to match the 6’6” Joshua up with former two division world champion David Haye (26-2, 24 KOs) in the near future despite Haye, 34, being interested in that fight.
A fight between Joshua and Haye makes a heck of a lot more sense than what we’ve been seeing from Joshua in terms of opposition. He’s been facing the likes of Gary Cornish, Kevin Johnson and Jason Gavern. Hearn says he’s pointing Joshua in the direction of Dillian Whyte for December 12th, and then Erkan Teper for the EBU heavyweight title, and then finally for a world title against either WBC champion Deontay Wilder or IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko.
What I don’t understand is why Hearn doesn’t insert Haye in place of Whyte or Teper in order to get Joshua a much bigger payday. I mean, the money has got to be much better for a fight against Haye than it would be for a fight against Teper or Whyte. I don’t know about you, but I smell fear from Hearn. I think he’s worried about putting Joshua in with Haye and watching him potentially get toppled over and knocked out in lightning fashion.
“David Haye talks about fighting again but he will want the right payday to come back, which I am not sure is there for him,” Hearn said via vitalboxing.com. “Joshua against Haye is a monster fight but we are not really looking at Haye. David Haye is a great fighter but we are looking at world titles and it doesn’t really apply to that strategy.”
For a promoter, Hearn doesn’t make any sense. Why wouldn’t he want to match Joshua against Haye if he really believes in him? Hearn has been bragging about there not being anyone in the division that can go 2 rounds with Joshua. Well, I’d be willing to bet that Haye could go two rounds with him, and I find it very, very strange that Hearn doesn’t want that fight.
It doesn’t make sense for Hearn to wait a year or two before making the fight, because Haye will be turning 35 in October, and he’s someone who could get beaten well before there’s any chance of a fight between him and Joshua.
I could understand not taking a fight against Haye if he was in his early 20s and had tons of time to still keep fighting. But we’re talking about a 35-year-old fighter with a shoulder that is coming off of shoulder surgery. You never know if he’s going to be able to hold together for a fight with all the Band-Aids they’ve put on him.
“I believe he [Joshua] would beat any heavyweight in the world, including Klitschko,” Hearn said. “I don’t think anyone thinks Deontay Wilder beats Joshua. Those fights will happen 100 per cent in the future. But from a management perspective, it is not the right time for those fights.”
Hearn is protecting Joshua like a mother hen protects here chicks. He needs to let Joshua take a fight against Haye so that we can see if Joshua is all what Hearn believes him to be. If Joshua can really whip any heavyweight in the world, then doesn’t it make sense for him to be fighting Haye right now? If he can’t beat everyone in the world, then I think the way Hearn is matching him up right now is just perfect to keep him safe.
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