Joshua likely to fight just ONCE in 2020 – Eddie Hearn

By Boxing News - 04/29/2020 - Comments

By Charles Brun: Eddie Hearn admits that it’s probable that Anthony Joshua will fight just once in 2020.  Hearn says his preference is to have Joshua (23-1, 21 KOs) defend his IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight titles in front of a crowd in the UK this year for his one fight in 2020.

Hearn doesn’t want to hold the 29-year-old Joshua’s career up by having him sit idle, waiting for crowds to be allowed to attend live events again. If Hearn can’t stage Joshua’s next fight in a foreign country in front of a live crowd, then he’ll have to make a decision whether to give up $10 million+ with the live gate by going behind closed doors or not fighting.

There’s a real possibility that Joshua will fight in front of a crowd in a foreign country or behind closed doors. Hearn isn’t saying which foreign country he would be looking to stage Joshua’s title defense against Kubrat Pulev in, but he would likely be bringing him back to Saudi Arabia.

That’s where Joshua last fought against Andy Ruiz Jr. in their rematch on December 7.

Joshua fighting behind closed doors is last resort

“If I had to, I will,” said Hearn to IFL TV when asked if he would do Joshua behind closed doors. “I don’t want to, but I have to, I will. When you look back at those pictures three years from today [for the Joshua vs. Wladimir Klitschko fight on April 29, 2017] from one of the greatest nights one could have.

“The visual impact [of fighting in front of 80,000 fans at Wembley Stadium] was so important for Joshua’s brand, and for the brand of boxing, so important for the country. I don’t want to do that behind closed doors. I want to give ourselves every opportunity to stage AJ in front of a crowd.

“So we have to bite the bullet by saying that he’s only going to box once this year. So if that’s the case, then we’re OK to go in September or October. I don’t want to go much further [than that]. My preference is AJ with a crowd in the UK. My next choice is AJ in another country with a crowd, and my last resort is AJ behind closed doors.

“It is if it has to be. I’m not going to hold his career up to where he hasn’t boxed in a year. That would be ridiculous, so we’ve got to do what we’ve got to do. So with those kinds of fighters, where do you generate the lost revenue from the gate?” said Hearn.

Given the big money that Hearn can pull in for Joshua in staging the Pulev fight in one of the countries in the Middle East, that’s very likely the destination for his next fight. Some boxing fans believe that Joshua will never return to the UK for another fight due to the big money he can make defending his belts in Saudi Arabia.

Image: Joshua likely to fight just ONCE in 2020 - Eddie Hearn

Cost-cutting needed for Whyte vs. Povetkin

“Povetkin-Whyte might do a million quid on the gate,” said Hearn. “So if you go behind closed doors, how do you substitute that million quid? Probably some fewer costs because you’re not in a bigger arena.

“Probably you take a fight or two off the undercard. Then you go back to the fighters and say, ‘This is the situation; what do you want to do? They’ll probably say, ‘What do you want to do, Eddy? You shouldn’t make any money out of the show.’ Or you go back to Sky or DAZN and say, ‘Come on, guys. Substitute this gate. How are we going to do it?’

“Everything is different. If you were in a situation where you were having a comeback fight or a warmup fight with limited risk, you might be prepared to take less money.

“If you were in a match that could define your career, you shouldn’t have to make less money. But to fight quicker, there might be scenarios where that might happen,” said Hearn.

It’s obviously less painful for Hearn to put together a fight between Dillian Whyte and Alexander Povetkin behind closed doors compared to one of Joshua’s fights.

Hearn will be looking at ways to cost cut to save money that he’ll be losing from the gate for the Whyte vs. Povetkin fight. Whyte is mostly a Sky Box Office guy. He’s not someone that is a huge ticket seller like Joshua or the talented heavyweights of the past.

Finding a solution for lost gate revenue

“Bob Arum is talking about, ‘Fighters are going to need to be more realistic now,'” said Hearn. “There’s probably a chance where some people are thinking about resetting the market, you know? I don’t really see it that way. I just think we need to find a way to stage the meg-fights.

“But when you talk about an AJ fight, the gate could be $10 million. You talk about a Canelo vs. Billy Joe Saunders fight, the gate is $8 million. You don’t just go, ‘We’ll do it in the studio now. Don’t worry about the $10 million. Come on, mate.’

“So you’ve got to be creative, you’ve got to think on your feet, and you’ve got to find a solution. We don’t want a fighter to lose any money. There’s going to be a reset. When we come back, certain fights are going to be offered to fighters.

“I know a lot of promoters are going to go back to fighters and say, ‘There’s no gate, so you’ve got to take X,'” said Hearn.

There may not be a solution for the lost gate revenue for Joshua’s fight with Pulev. It’s not a matter of cutting costs. Hearn can do that with Whyte and some of his B-level fighters in his Matchroom Boxing stable, but you can’t do that with Joshua.

With Joshua, Hearn has these options:

  • Have AJ sit idle until the crowds come back in 2021 or 2022
  • Stage Joshua vs. Pulev in the Middle East in front of a live crowd
  • Fight behind closed doors and lose the gate revenue
  • Cost cut: strip undercard to the bare bones by cutting back on the number of fights and putting obscure lesser fighters

Hearn wants to get rid of soft match-making

“I understand that’s going to happen, but I’d rather avoid that when I can,” said Hearn. “But it’s more like if you want to get out and have a fight that is pretty much straightforward, then, of course. Then you might want to consider, ‘I’ll wait six months,’ but the market may never be the same.

“I can understand if it’s a runout job, but I want to get rid of the runout jobs now. So now we’re saying in the short term, we want as many British fighters on a card as possible, right? So rather than you having a runout against Lucas from Poland, why don’t you fight Dave from Manchester, who is 10-0?

“That’s going to be better for the sport and better for British boxing. Small hall boxing is finished. Until gates return, small hall shows will disappear. It’s impossible unless people are prepared to lose 10s of thousands of pounds,” said Hearn.

This might be asking too much of fighters for Hearn to get them to agree to stuff with the runout fights. A lot of fighters thrive with the runout fights and carve a career out of them. If Hearn attempts to pressure his Matchroom fighters to take on the best each time in risk-taking fights, he may have problems getting them to agree to that.