Eddie Hearn is confident that Anthony Joshua will knock out Deontay Wilder & Tyson Fury to become the undisputed champion by this time next year and will then retire from the sport.
Things aren’t looking good now for Joshua (26-3, 23 KOs), as the Saudis haven’t produced the money to stage the fight against Wilder (43-2-1, 42 KOs) for January, and it appears they’ve changed their minds.
Hearn hasn’t given up on the Saudis quite yet and will wait another two weeks before he moves on with Joshua to find someone else that will stage the fight.
He says the Joshua vs. Wilder fight could take place in February or March, possibly in Las Vegas or London at Wembley.
If everything goes wrong, Joshua won’t get Wilder or Fury and will stuck going in a different direction. There’s always the trilogy with Andy Ruiz Jr or Oleksandr Usyk that will interest fans and make a boatload of money for AJ & Matchroom Boxing.
Joshua beat Wilder & Fury to become undisputed
“Call me deluded, but he’s going to knock out Deontay Wilder, and then he’s going to knock out Tyson Fury, and then he’s going to become undisputed heavyweight world champion, and then we’re going to sail off into the sunset,” said Eddie Hearn to talkSPORT Boxing about Anthony Joshua. “I see it, have the vision for that, let’s make it happen.”
Fury may eventually fight Joshua because he likes money, and that match-up will be the ideal one to take before retiring.
“I do, I really do,” said Hearn when asked if he believes by this time next year that Joshua will have fought Fury & Wilder. “I know Wilder is ready for that fight.
“Fury, you hear this, you hear that, but also the most frustrating thing about Tyson Fury is he’s the favorite to beat Usyk, and he’s the favorite right now to beat Wilder.”
The likely reasons why Fury has chosen not to fight Joshua & Usyk are because of these items:
- He is afraid of losing and knows there’s the possibility of that happening
- Fury doesn’t want to be bossed around
- Reluctant to in the hard work
Fury driven by money
“Those fights pay him tens of tens of millions, and it also secures his legacy as one of the greatest heavyweights ever. If he beat Usyk & AJ. He could retire as an all time great, but also, both fights bring in bucketloads of money.”
When fear overrules reason, you get the kind of behavior that Fury is exhibiting. He’s so afraid of losing to Joshua & Usyk that the allure of money isn’t enough to override the fear.
“I think Fury is driven by money, but if you want to give him the benefit of the doubt and say he’s driven by legacy, those fights have both,” said Hearn.
“Sometimes, I think he’s got a bit of a chip on his shoulder. He says, ‘No, I’m not giving you the fight,’ but I don’t get it. The other day, he said, ‘I’m not interested in Usyk. He’s a middleweight rabbit’ or whatever he calls him, and ‘AJ is a gym sweeper. I’m only interested in the big boys.’ Who are the big boys?”
Obviously, Fury is insecure and feeling resentment that Hearn wasn’t smothering him with compliments his entire career and didn’t sign him when the option was there.
“They are the big boys. They’re the only big boys left, but if you want to go and do an exhibition, I don’t blame him for that. He’s getting a lot of money,” said Hearn about Fury’s fight against the aging MMA guy. who has never boxed before.
“It’s an exhibition, and it’s a circus,” said Hearn about Fury’s fight against Francis Ngannou.”It’s the best heavyweight in the world against a bloke that has never boxed before, but he’s making a lot of money; it’s a big event. Good luck to him, but if that’s what he’s about, no problem.
“Maybe he will beat them. He’s a tremendous fighter, but if he goes out and becomes undisputed, it’s great for the sport. So, I want him to do that. Him against Usyk, has nothing to do with me, but I still want him to fight Usyk, and I want him to fight AJ. He’s fantastic character, brilliant for the sport, but a little frustrating sometimes,” said Hearn.
