By Sam Volz: Anthony Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn says he received a surprise phonecall this week from Tyson Fury’s guy Bob Arum about doing a fight next. According to Hearn, he’s unsure what type of fight he wants for Joshua (25-3, 22 KOs) next.
In other words, Hearn might choose to match Joshua against another gimmie-level opponent, which in this case would be British journeyman Dillian Whyte. Hearn hasn’t been bashful about letting boxing fans know that he wants the 34-year-old Whyte as Joshua’s next opponent.
In the post-fight interview last Saturday, Hearn had Whyte standing beside him while being interviewed by DAZN and told them what an “amazing” opponent would be for AJ’s next fight in July. So that you know, Whyte’s recent ring record is 2-2. I guess what counts as being “amazing” has gone downhill nowadays.
The word “amazing” would be code for, ‘Joshua needs a sure thing win for July.’
Joshua didn’t look good last weekend against Jermaine Franklin, and Hearn spoke about wanting AJ to get another fight under his belt with new trainer Derrick James in July before looking to match him against a tough opponent like WBC heavyweight champion Fury or Deontay Wilder later this year in December.
Unfortunately, it might not matter how much time Joshua works with Derrick. The corner advice from Derrick was simple Simon stuff, and unbelievable he’s held in such high regard by some.
If anything, Joshua might worsen under Derrick’s guidance, as many boxing fans feel that AJ performed much better in his previous fight under trainer Robert Garcia against Oleksandr Usyk than he did against Franklin.
As the saying goes, ‘Garbage in, garbage out.’ If Joshua isn’t improving, he’s wasting his time with Derrick and should return to Robert Garcia or, better yet, look for a new coach.
Hearn, however, isn’t sure whether a site fee would be there for the summer in Saudi Arabia for the Joshua vs. Fury fight to take place.
If the Saudis aren’t ready to stage the fight in their country in July, Hearn says the contest can potentially take place later this year.
“We’ve just got to decide what type of fight we want for July,” said Eddie Hearn to iFL TV about Anthony Joshua’s next contest for the summer. “Do we go straight into a massive fight now? Bob Arum phoned me the other day, which was quite a surprise. Just talking about AJ Fury, he said what are you thinking?
“And I said I don’t know. We’re all up for discussing the fight. I don’t think there will be a significant site fee in July, but we’re still willing to look at the numbers, or if you want to wait and do it later in the year, we’re up for that too.”
“Who knows what’s going to happen with [Oleksandr] Usyk, with [Deontay] Wilder. We’re going to have to see, but AJ’s going to fight in July, 100%,” said Hearn.