Eddie Hearn is convinced Anthony Joshua is back and now the best heavyweight in the world after his fifth round stoppage win over Otto Wallin last Saturday night on the ‘Day of Reckoning’ card in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Hearn says that after the way Joshua (27-3, 24 KOs) beat his old sparring partner Wallin (26-2, 14 KOs), he’ll defeat WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, and he’s pulling for him to defeat IBF, WBA & WBO champ Oleksandr Usyk in their undisputed championship fight next February.
If Fury comes out victorious, Hearn wants to match him against Joshua in what he says would be the “biggest fight of all time in the history of the sport.”
Fury might not beat 37-year-old Oleksandr Usyk next February, and even if he does, it could be an ugly mauling job like we’ve seen him do in many of his fights in the last three years.
Fans would argue that a fight between the 35-year-old Fury, who resembled an old, faded veteran in his last fight against boxing novice Francis Ngannou, and the 34-year-old Joshua would be for domestic consumption for British fans. AJ & Fury are older fighters and NOT the best.
This would have been a good fighter four or five years ago when Fur and Joshua were still young, but they’re both shopworn, and the fight proves nothing.
Hearn has done a bang-up job of rebuilding Joshua’s career with his careful match-making, putting him in with fringe-level opponents, Otto Wallin, Robert Helenius, and Jermaine Franklin, but he’s not brought him back in the real sense.
Hearn’s glowing endorsement
Joshua’s comeback appears to be just match-making stuff. You know, put a guy in with a weaker opponent to make him look good, and then the fans, ‘See, he’s the best and unbeatable.’ Joshua is obviously not the best, and for sure, neither is the 35-year-old Fury after what we saw of him winning a controversial ten round decision against Ngannou last October.
“He’s back. He was absolutely punch-perfect. Sharp, feet were outstanding, jab perfect, spiteful and heavy-handed,” said Eddie Hearn to iFL TV, reacting to Anthony Joshua’s win over Otto Wallin last Saturday night.
The shadow of weak opposition
Joshua beat a guy who looked poor and had no business fighting him or anyone in the top ten. Wallin resembled an old, out-of-shape sparring partner last Saturday night and a step backward from Joshua’s last two opponents, Robert Helenius & Jermaine Franklin. That’s saying a lot. Those were not good opponents, but they were world’s better than Wallin.
“I’m telling you. When he’s in this mood with that team, he’s the best heavyweight in the world,” Hearn continued about Joshua, who had the ideal opponent in front of him in the form of the weak & slow Wallin. “I don’t believe anybody can beat him.”
If Hearn believes Joshua is unbeatable, he needs to put him in with Zhilei Zhang, a fighter who called him out last night after his win over Wallin. Of course, Hearn is just talking without believing, he won’t make that fight, knowing that Joshua will probably lose.
“He’s been through a tough time. He hasn’t been right technically. I don’t think he’s had the confidence. He’s got it now, and he’s going to be so difficult to beat in 2024. He’s coming.
“Yeah, it’s a kick in the nuts. We signed to fight Deontay Wilder, which is irrelevant now, but that’s boxing. We’ve got to look for another opponent next,” said Hearn about the fight between Joshua & Deontay now off the table for March 9th due to the Bronze Bomber’s one-sided twelve round unanimous decision loss to Joseph Parker last Saturday night in Riyadh.
The 38-year-old Deontay was always going to be a terrible option for Joshua to fight in March, considering the Bronze Bomber has basically retired without letting anyone know. Wilder stopped fighting after his loss to Tyson Fury in 2021, except for a one round job against his 39-year-old former sparring partner Robert Helenius.
Opportunistic Choices
“He’s [Joshua] obviously in the position to fight for the [IBF] world title against [Filip] Hrgovic,” said Hearn. “That’s an option. There are so many other options out there as well. I’m happy with any of those options because I don’t think anyone beats him [Joshua] when he’s in this mood.”
Hrgovic is another weak option for Joshua, as he was clearly beaten by Zhilei Zhang last year in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in a fight in which he was dropped, dominated, and given a highly controversial twelve round decision.
Zhang deserved the win in that fight in the eyes of the fans. Compared to Joshua’s last three opponents, Hrgovic would be a great choice, but he’s still a weak one.
“He’s only going to get better and better. It’s a difficult decision to choose what to do. Whether to fight Deontay Wilder or give the fans what they want. No, he just got beat,” said Hearn when asked if the Wilder fight is still on the table for Joshua.
“It [Wilder fight] might be in the future, but obviously, he just lost every round to Joseph Parker, but we can’t control that. It was important for him [Joshua] to go in and make a statement tonight off the back of Wilder as well.”
It couldn’t go over well at all if Wilder was still used as an opponent for Joshua to fight in 2024, but considering the opposition AJ has been fighting in his last three bouts, it would be par for the course. Wilder would fit in nicely with the group that Joshua had just fought.
The Big Dream: Joshua vs. Fury
“Yeah, we’re going to chill out. We’re in a beautiful position now. It’s a terrible shame. Well, it’s not a terrible shame. It’s great for boxing. Fury-Usyk gets made. My God, give me Tyson Fury now. Please,” said Hearn about wanting Joshua to fight Fury now after his ‘big win’ over the fringe contender Otto Wallin.
“There’s absolutely no way Tyson Fury beats Anthony Joshua. No way, but let’s get behind Fury to beat Usy, and let’s get that fight made. That’s the biggest fight of all time in the history of the sport. Hopefully, he [Fury] does the business,” said Hearn.
Joshua vs. Fury definitely it NOT the ‘biggest fight of all time,” but it might be the biggest tin the UK. These are two old guys that are nowhere near the best.
Who has Fury really beaten during his career? Deontay was never good, and Wladimir Klitschko was 39 when Fury beat him. Other than an old Wladimir, Fury has beaten no one. Joshua hasn’t, either.
