“June is absolutely” when Joshua – Usyk 2 happens says Eddie Hearn

By Boxing News - 03/26/2022 - Comments

By Jack Tiernan: Eddie Hearn has confirmed that June is the target date for the rematch between three-belt heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk and Anthony Joshua.

The location is being hammered out right now, but it’s believed that it could wind up back in London, England, where Usyk dethroned Joshua last September at the Tottenham Hotspurs Stadium.

Hearn stated that he’d be speaking with Usyk’s promoter Alex Krassyuk to nail the rematch down to a date and location.

Hearn and former IBF/WBA/WBO champion Joshua (24-2, 22 KOs) are both ecstatic in getting the rematch against the 2012 Olympic gold medalist Usyk so soon.

The unbeaten former undisputed cruiserweight champion Usyk had been defending his country Ukraine from the Russian invasion for the last month, joining the territorial defense.

Image: "June is absolutely" when Joshua - Usyk 2 happens says Eddie Hearn

Usyk (19-0, 13 KOs) made it official on Friday that he’s taking the rematch with Joshua and starting the initial training for the second match-up. Joshua & Hearn planned on taking an interim fight against one of a small handful of fighters.

Otto Wallin, Joe Joyce, and Luis Ortiz were the three heavyweights mentioned by Hearn as the ones he and Joshua were looking at for the interim contest. Thankfully, they’re no longer needed.

It would have been risky for Joshua to fight any of those three, as they would have been highly motivated to upset him, whereas he wouldn’t have been nearly as excited about the match-ups.

“No, I’ll speak to him today, but like I said, June is absolutely the date we anticipate Joshua-Usyk will happen,” said Hearn to Boxing Social when asked if he’d spoken to Oleksandr Usyk’s promoter Alex Krassyuk about the rematch with Anthony Joshua.

The wisened Matched Boxing boss Hearn hasn’t talked about it, but a lot is riding on this fight for the 32-year-old Joshua regarding his future in the sport.

Joshua has already lost two out of his last four fights, and there are whispers that he may be shot & on the brink of retirement. A loss here against Usyk could be the final blow to his career.

We don’t know if Joshua’s pride will be too much for him to keep plugging along after the third defeat in his last five contests. A lot will depend on the nature of the defense.

Provided it’s an exciting competitive fight like we saw in the trilogy match between Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder last October, Joshua might be willing to continue with his career if he loses to Usyk again.

On the flip side, if Joshua is knocked out by Usyk and humiliated in front of his boxing fans in London, it could precipitate a decision for him to hang up his gloves.

That’s how I will help my country more, and it’s better than being in territorial defense and running around Kyiv with a machine gun,” said Oleksandr Usyk via Sky Sports News on why he’s chosen to take the rematch with Anthony Joshua.

Usyk beating Joshua again will bring in a tremendous amount of publicity worldwide, and help put even more of the spotlight on Ukraine.

It would a massive victory for Usyk to defeat Joshua a second time, to show the boxing public that his previous win over the 6’6″ British heavyweight last September wasn’t a fluke thing.

Right now, there are many, Hearn perhaps included that attribute Usyk’s win over AJ as a result of Joshua’s decision to attempt to outbox him.

They feel that the only reason Usyk won is that Joshua decided not to use his power and size against his smaller opponent. Usyk can prove all of his doubters wrong by beating Joshua again with him attempting to use his size and power game.

 

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