‘Anthony Joshua wants to become world champion again’ Eddie Hearn outlines Anthony Joshua plans as Tyson Fury bids farewell
Eddie Hearn has made it clear that Anthony Joshua still has his sights set on becoming world champion again, just a few months removed from his devastating knockout loss to Daniel Dubois. The two Britons battled in September in Wembley Stadium, and Joshua could find himself facing Dubois again if he faces the winner between him and Joseph Parker.
Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn has said that Anthony Joshua wants to become a world champion again, as a potential blockbuster bout with Tyson Fury looms.
Joshua last fought in September and suffered a devastating knockout loss to Daniel Dubois.
Dubois faces Joseph Parker in Saudi Arabia on Saturday – live on TNT Sports Box Office – and should a fight with Fury not materialize, Joshua will have his eyes on the winner.
“AJ wants to become world heavyweight champion again,” Hearn said.
“So the winner of Dubois and Parker is a real possibility. But AJ is gonna fight again, he wants to get back in the ring. He wants to compete.
“But of course, the goal as always is to become world heavyweight champion. If Tyson Fury is out of the game, the focus will be on the Dubois-Parker winner.”
Anthony Joshua made it clear that he still has his sights set on a fight with Fury, but the latter recently announced his retirement from boxing following back-to-back defeats to unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk.
The 36-year-old put an end to an iconic career as one of the best heavyweights of his generation. Although Hearn is aware that ‘The Gypsy King’ has u-turned on retirements previously, and could be lured back into the game. Even then, he is unsure if his heart would be in it.
“Maybe it’s a play,” he said. “But maybe more likely, he’s had enough.
“This is the kind of sport where if you get the fight punched out of you, or you don’t have the heart for it anymore, it’s a very dangerous game. I think the last thing you want to do is go into a fight with Anthony Joshua if you don’t fancy it anymore.
“If genuine, I wish him all the best. What a fantastic career. Made a bucket load of money, world heavyweight champion, one of the top fighters of our generation. Gut feeling? He’ll be back, but maybe that’s the optimist in me.
“These guys are winners. Defeat hurts, and it should hurt. I know AJ, I would only say in the last few weeks he’s got back on his feet and got the bit between his teeth. Fury will still be hurting from those back-to-back defeats.”
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‘GREATEST CARD IN HISTORY’
Saturday’s card, which is headlined by the rematch between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol, has been called “the greatest card in the history of this sport” by Hearn.
Dubois v Parker serves as the appetiser for the undisputed light heavyweight clash, and preceding those two fights are numerous high-quality bouts, including Shakur Stevenson v Floyd Schofield, Carlos Adames v Hamzah Sheeraz, and Vergil Ortiz Jr v Israil Madrimov.
“I spend a lot of my time saying, ‘This is the card of the year.’ This ain’t the card of the year, it’s not even the card of the decade. This is the greatest card we’ve seen in the history of this sport.
“You’ve got the undisputed rematch, which is more than enough on its own. And then you have the world heavyweight championship, Dubois-Parker, which I think is a 50-50 fight.”
Expanding on the 50-50 fight, Hearn believes that Parker has the tools to beat Dubois if he can withstand his firepower over the length of the fight.
“I think Parker has got a great style to beat Daniel Dubois. He’s got a great engine, good chin, good movement. He needs to take the fight deep and late.
“I think Dubois has got a really good chin, but you’ve got to break him down. We saw that very briefly against AJ, just signs that you might be able to keep chipping away, but you’ve got to stay in the fight and to do that you’ve got to hold up to the firepower of Daniel Dubois.”
