By Charles Brun: Eddie Hearn says Anthony Joshua will be fighting in December, and then again in February or March.
Hearn says he’s open to Joshua (24-3, 22 KOs) fighting Tyson Fury, but not in November, as they’re interested in.
For that fight to happen, Fury and his promoter will need to be flexible in terms of moving the date to December.
Hearn’s comment about Joshua being the “biggest draw in boxing” suggests that he’s not going to be willing to agree to the type of money that a challenger would get fighting a champion.
That’s not going to fly with Hearn or Joshua if that’s what Fury and his promoter will be offering.
Hearn is distrustful of being offered the fight from Fury now, and he feels that it’s just a ruse for him to have an excuse to fight someone that the fans have never heard of.
“We had plans after the Usyk defeat to come back in December and then go again in March, get active and get the rhythm going again and then try and fight for the world heavyweight title,” said Eddie Hearn to talkSPORT about Anthony Joshua’s next fight.
“Our plan is to go on December 10 or 17th, probably in the UK with Anthony Joshua against a top 15 opponent, and then go again in February or March. You’ve got the Dillian Whyte fight, and you’ve got Deontay Wilder, which is a really big fight.
“The reality is, AJ is arguably still the biggest draw in boxing.
“For me and the cynic in me in boxing, this smells of, ‘Oh, we couldn’t agree with the AJ deal, so I’m fighting this bloke you’ve never heard of instead,” said Hearn about Fury.
“It’s easy to say, ‘We want to go in November.’ AJ has just had a couple of weeks off. ‘What’s wrong with December?’ ‘No, no, no. It has to be in November, and here’s the deal,’ and they lowball you on the deal.
“Fury is outstanding at getting the public to believe absolute nonsense. The big problem for Fury is probably in February or March; the Middle East will be looking to make the undisputed fight with Usyk.
“We want to get his confidence rebuilt, and we want to fight him in the UK and around the world,” said Hearn about Joshua.
