Promoter Eddie Hearn says Matchroom has no one to fill Anthony Joshua’s shoes once he retires from the sport. He suspects no one for the next four to five years will be able to duplicate what 2012 Olympic gold medalist Joshua (28-4, 25 KOs) has done since signing him 11 years ago.
(Credit: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing)
Hearn feels AJ will continue to fight for at least another year for two or three fights, and then they will go from there. Those fights are all expected to be double majors against Tyson Fury and possibly a rematch against Daniel Dubois.
Joshua began his career at Matchroom in 2013, knocking out his first 14 opponents within three rounds, getting the British boxing public excited about him.
If those Olympics had taken place in a neutral country, some believe Joshua would not have won any medals at all. He would lose to Italy’s Roberto Cammarelle, Cuba’s Erislandy Savon, Kazakhstan’s Ivan Dychko and China’s Zhilei Zhang. I watched all those fights, and I thought Joshua should have lost to all four.
“Financially, we make a lot of money, and AJ fights, every time he fights, we do well, but compared to the whole income, especially boxing’s whole income, it’s actually quite a small portion,” said Eddie Hearn said. Second salt when asked if it would hurt Matchroom financially if Anthony Joshua retired.
“It’s the nature and stature of the man and the profile of the events. Financially it doesn’t make a difference to us, but personally it makes a difference to us because it’s been an incredible journey, and also for British fight fans it makes a big difference.
“So, he’s definitely not retiring yet. I think you’re going to see him for at least another year, which is two or three fights, and then we’ll see. But the next decision is going to be very important. I don’t think anyone will honestly ever fill his shoes,” said Hearn when asked who in his Matchroom Boxing stable will fill Joshua’s shoes.
Joshua may retire if he’s knocked out early in his next fight, whether it’s against Daniel Dubois or Tyson Fury. If Joshua is stopped in the first three rounds, he will probably hang up his gloves rather than continue to be embarrassed.
Someone could surpass Joshua commercially within five years, but that would be hard to do because many fighters tend to slack off after making a lot of money. Joshua didn’t do that.
Fighters also don’t compete often enough when they start bringing in the dough, and they can’t increase their commercial status by only fighting once a year. They either don’t realize it, or they’re just lazy when they get a bunch of money. Joshua hasn’t been lazy, but he’s also been well-matched by Hearn to keep him protected.
“There is nobody in boxing at the moment who can even come close to being as big commercially as Anthony Joshua. Hopefully, there will be more, but he’s a one-off for sure,” said Hearn.
Fans in the UK love boxing much more than in the US and in many other countries. Joshua would never have been the same kind of star in the States coming out of the 2012 Olympics as he was in the UK because he would have had to fight better opposition.
American fans wouldn’t have taken notice of Joshua if he was matched up against the tomato cans Hearn put him through in his first 14 fights. Plus they wouldn’t have made a big deal about Joshua beating 41 year old Wladimir Klitschko the way the British public did because they would have seen that Wlad is old.
