By Jake Tiernan: Matchroom promoter Barry Hearn states Anthony Joshua was misquoted when he recently said that he won’t be returning to the ring until December. He believes that Joshua (25-2, 22 KOs) will make a “U-turn” and choose to fight before December.
Joshua seemed pretty clear in his message on social media that he won’t be fighting until December, so there was no misquoting going on.
What you can say is that maybe Joshua was confused when he said he won’t fight until December because he might have been having self-doubt about taking a fight in July against Dillian Whyte. That’s the guy that Eddie Hearn has been chomping at the bit for Joshua to fight in July.
Eddie Hearn has always wanted the Joshua vs. Whyte rematch, and not just recently. He’s been talking up that fight since last year, so it’s not just because he looked poor in his recent contest against second-tier heavyweight Jermaine Franklin.
Hearn has been yakking his head off about Joshua fighting Whyte again for the longest, and he’s probably not happy about AJ saying he won’t fight until December.
There’s easy money to be made for Joshua against Whyte, and minimal risk, given how shot Dillian looks. That fight is a Mayweather-style bank heist.
“Firstly, I think there were a few misquotes about he’s not boxing until December. He’s thinking about not boxing until December,” said Barry Hearn to Joe in giving an update about Anthony Joshua.
“I love Anthony but he’s on holiday at the moment, He’s having a good time. He spends his life in training camps,” said Barry. “When you’re having a good time, you like to carry on having a good time, but I know Anthony a bit better than that.
“I won’t be a 100% surprised to see a u-turn on that,” Hearn said about him believing Joshua will change his mind about not fighting until December.
“The fight [with Jermaine Franklin] was successful as far as the job was done. I don’t think it was the best Anthony Joshua I’ve seen by a long way. There’s obviously room for improvement and big mental issues to get over, which we all know.
“We ask ourselves now. Are we with him on his journey? Absolutely, yes. So I’m not going to criticize him; I’m going to understand him. There’s a lot going on in the heavyweight division and some amazing bull s***t as well by a lot of people. I supposed that’s boxing in general.
“But it was a good step forward. I would love to see him have one or two more steps forward, but that’s his decision. He’s a 34-year-old grown man. He lives his life in a training camp. People have their opinions about boxers, having never lived the life they’ve lived.
“I give the decision to Anthony, but he’s a quite sensible boy. He knows he has a plan, and I believe he has a way back to his best days. But I might be biased because I like him a lot. I’m not apologizing for that.
“I like people who give me 100%. With Joshua, I’ve never had less. So whatever he wants to do, we’ll be in his corner,” said Barry Hearn.
