Eddie Hearn pretty much tipped his hands about who will be next for Anthony Joshua in July by having Dillian Whyte alongside him last Saturday night for the post-fight breakdown of AJ’s fight against Jermaine Franklin at the O2 Arena in London.
Hearn let the fans know that he’s eager to make a rematch with Joshua (25-3, 22 KOs) and Whyte (28-3, 19 KOs) potentially next. He also mentioned Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury as possible foes for AJ’s fight in July, but that seems very unlikely given the talk afterward about Joshua needing another bout under his belt with new coach Derrick James before tackling the big dogs later this year.
Fans would argue that if Joshua isn’t going to fight Wilder or Fury next, he should face one of the top contenders rather than Whyte, who has been knocked out in two out of his last four fights and is coming off a controversial win over Franklin last November.
Quality options for Joshua’s next fight:
- Frank Sanchez
- Filip Hrgovic
- Andy Ruiz
- Martin Bakole
- Arslanbek Makhmudov
- Otto Wallin
- Jared Anderson
If this were 2018, Whyte would be an excellent choice for Joshua, but the way he looked getting knocked out by Fury and Alexander Povetkin, he doesn’t belong anywhere near AJ.
When you add Dillians’ controversial win over Franklin, he’s pure poison for Joshua. That’s rewarding Whyte for failure. The British public isn’t naive to how poor Whyte has looked lately, and it would be a mistake for Hearn to try and pawn him off as a great choice for Joshua as if the fans haven’t been keeping track of how Dillian’s career has gone downhill dramatically in the last three years.
“The big question is, who is next? The man down there on the left [Dillian Whyte] is a great fight for London. Joshua against Whyte is a great fight,” said Eddie Hearn to DAZN Boxing. “I think Joshua needs a big fight. I don’t think he wants to stay at this level [Jermaine Franklin].
“The fans are going to want to see him [Joshua] in the biggest fights possible, and that’s Dillian Whyte, Tyson Fury, and Deontay Wilder. I think it’s going to be one of those three next,” said Hearn.
“The Dillian Whyte fight has history, and it’s personal,” said Tony Bellew. “With Dillian, he’s coming to win in every second of every round and that’s going to prompt a nasty reaction from Anthony Joshua.”
