Anthony Joshua vs. Tyson Fury being targeted for May 2021, says Hearn

By Boxing News - 12/14/2020 - Comments

By Scott Gilfoid: Eddie Hearn says he had a conversation with Tyson Fury’s promoter Bob Arum, and he believes they’re ready to put together the contracts for a fight with Anthony Joshua for an “undisputed” heavyweight championship in May 2021.

Although Hearn repeatedly told Sky Sports News the heavyweight clash between IBF/WBA/WBO champion Joshua (24-1, 22 KOs) and WBC champ Fury (30-0-1, 21 KOs) will be the undisputed championship, he later admitted that he needs the WBO to agree to let their title on the line.

World Boxing Organization president Paco Valcarcel threw cold water on Hearn’s plans to have Joshua ignore his responsibility of needing to defend against mandatory Oleksandr Usyk by reminding him that the fight needs to happen next.

Usyk wants his title shot 

Hearn has no interest in letting Joshua defend his WBO against Usyk, who would be a nightmare for him.

He wants Usyk to sit and wait until Joshua fights Fury twice in a row, and then he can potentially fight for the WBO title in 2022.  Even that isn’t guaranteed.

Image: Anthony Joshua vs. Tyson Fury being targeted for May 2021, says Hearn

If Usyk loses to someone while waiting for his mandated title shot next year, he can say goodbye to fighting for the WBO strap, which I’m sure wouldn’t cause Joshua to lose any sleep over his tough luck.

The WBO isn’t going to let Joshua and Hearn cut corners by pushing Usyk aside for the third time, and go forward with two Fury fights in 2021.

Hearn and Joshua already got two exceptions from the WBO already to let Joshua face Andy Ruiz Jr in a rematch last December and then face Kubrat Pulev last Saturday. At one point does it end with Joshua being allowed to circumvent his WBO mandatory?

What happens if Joshua doesn’t want to fight Usyk in 2022? Will Hearn put pressure on the WBO to let Joshua steer around Usyk yet again by pointing out a great fight that needs to happen?

“[Promoter] Eddie Hearn knows the meaning of commitment. The ball is in Hearn’s court,” said WBO president Paco Valcarcel.

Hearn says he’s going to write to the WBO to let them know they can be involved in the big Joshua vs. Fury fight. In other words, Hearn wants the WBO to give in and let Joshua ignore Usyk for the sake of the sport.

Unfortunately, Usyk would need to wait a year, and there would be no guarantees that Joshua and Hearn wouldn’t do the same thing to him in 2022.

Image: Anthony Joshua vs. Tyson Fury being targeted for May 2021, says Hearn

You can’t blame Usyk and his co-promoter Alexander Krassyuk for them not wanting to step aside again, as they’ve already done it twice.

Joshua vs. Fury planned or May 2021 

“Ultimately the big issue for Anthony Joshua is he has a WBO mandatory now. We will be writing to the WBO to say you have an opportunity to be part of the biggest fight in boxing. One of the biggest fights in boxing history,” said Hearn to Sky Sports News.

“We plan to stage this [Joshua vs. Fury] fight probably in May, and we would like this to be for the undisputed heavyweight championship of the world,” said Hearn.

If you’re Joshua, how do you sleep at night knowing that you’re shirking your commitment in defending against

Image: Anthony Joshua vs. Tyson Fury being targeted for May 2021, says Hearn

“I had a good chat with [Bob Arum] him last night. It’s positive,” Hearn. A few small issues to iron out, but I think we can start looking at drawing up contracts and try to get this moving.