Eddie Hearn, like so many other people who caught his latest podcast, has been listening to Carl Froch state that, in his opinion, Anthony Joshua is “done” and should hang ’em up. Froch, who has been criticised by some for unfairly laying into Joshua, has said numerous times that AJ will fight scared after suffering that nasty KO at the hands of Daniel Dubois.
But Hearn says we should all forget the negativity and get behind Joshua when he launches what could prove to be his final comeback towards the end of the year. There are still some big fights out there for AJ, including, maybe, fights with Deontay Wilder, Tyson Fury, and perhaps a rematch with Dubois.
Hearn on AJ’s Hall of Fame Case
Looking at the future, Hearn also spoke about whether or not Joshua is a future Hall of Famer. To some fighters, going into the HOF is everything, it’s the holy grail. But while Hearn says Joshua “has a great shout” at going in, he also asks, “does it matter?” Froch, by the way, has said that Joshua has not had a HOF worthy career, largely because he hasn’t (yet) fought Fury or Wilder.
“A Hall of Fame career is not about fighting people, it’s about beating them,” Hearn said when speaking with Pro Boxing Fans. “Carl Froch is in the Hall of Fame; I know that’s maybe slightly controversial to some people. I think Jermain Taylor was a great win, [Jean] Pascal was an underrated win, [Lucian] Bute was a good win. But he never beat Andre Ward, who was the man at the time. He never fought Joe Calzaghe. So, it’s the same kind of thing [as Joshua and his career]….sometimes you can’t fight everybody. But when you look at consistently who AJ has fought, you know, Wladimir Klitschko, Dillian Whyte. I’ve said it a million times…Joseph Parker, Alexander Povetkin, Andy Ruiz, Kubrat Pulev, [Oleksandr] Usyk twice, probably Fury. I think AJ’s got a great shout at the Hall of Fame. But does it matter? Why has everything got to be compared to Carl Froch? We’re just doing our own thing. AJ’s his own person.”
Beyond the Resume—Future Fights Beckon
Comparing fighters’ resumes can be a hard thing to do, and in the end it’s largely down to opinion, fan opinion, when it comes to who is deserving of being called the best, and when it comes to who is deserving of a place in the HOF.
For me, I think Froch absolutely deserves to be in The Hall, while Joshua, even if he never fought again, has done enough to be enshrined when the time comes. But as Hearn says, there could be more to come from the two-time heavyweight champ.
