By Robert Segal: Eddie Hearn says the date they’re looking at for Anthony Joshua’s next fight is on December 17th, now that his mega-clash against Tyson Fury is no longer happening.
Hearn didn’t say who the former two-time heavyweight champion Joshua (24-3, 22 KOs) could be fighting on December 17th, but as he’s said before, it’ll likely be a top 20 contender.
There’s not much time for Joshua to prepare himself for the fight, but he’ll likely choose a quality opponent.
“Ultimately, the fight couldn’t get made now. Can it get made? Yes, 100%,” said Eddie Hearn to iFL TV about the Tyson Fury vs. Anthony Joshua fight. “We were told categorically by Mr. Fury that the fight was dead, and there was no way he was taking the fight.
“From AJ’s point of view, I don’t think he wants to engage with him, and we were told that twice. One was the final, final time. We’ll look at dates and venues. December 17th is a date that we like.
“The venue option isn’t great for December 17th. Wembley Arena is a great arena, but in terms of size, I think it holds 10,000, 11,000. But AK wants to get out. He’s been training hard.
“December 3rd was never an ideal date, and someone started playing that back to me like me saying that last night. ‘Look, see, it was never an ideal date.’ I’ve said that a million times. We wanted December 17th. They [Team Fury] told us, ‘no. The only way you’re going to get the fight is December 3rd,’ and AJ said, ‘I’m willing to fight on that date.’
“It gives him a little more time because he’s still coming off a defeat over 12 rounds against the pound-for-pound #1 [Oleksandr Usyk]. So, he’ll continue, and we’ll keep playing.
“He [Joshua] accepted it was done with last Monday when Tyson Fury came out publically and abused him and said, ‘The fights off.’ Then when he did it again on Thursday and said, ‘The fights off, get to the back of the queue with all the others, you big dosser.’
“How many times have you got to say it before the other bloke to say, ‘Do you know what? Leave it.’ But then it’s like, they never came calling back after he said that. No, he didn’t. It’s alright because, as John said, we cost AJ 110 million pounds,” said Hearn.
