Promoter Eddie Hearn says he wants Anthony Joshua to fight Tyson Fury twice in 2025 and then retire.
(Credit: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing)
Hearn is torn as he wants Joshua (28-4, 25 KOs) to avenge his loss to IBF heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois, but realizes that it is necessary for him to defeat ‘The Gypsy King’, which is years away.
Fury is 36 but looks 60. The mega-fight has to happen now, and Hearn realizes it.
If Hearn waits to make the Joshua-Fury fight, Fury will probably keep getting beat up, and so will AJ. Neither of them have aged like fine wine, and they need to start the fight between them before whatever fans were there to see this match disappear.
Hearn says he will wait to see the outcome of the December 21st rematch between Fury and WBA, WBC and WBO heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk. However, the only reason Hearn will be watching is to find out if Fury will be the unified champion to defend against Joshua next or if he will lose.
Other than that, there’s no real reason to chime in because Hearn has already decided he wants Fury to take on Joshua next, win or lose. Unfortunately, that’s the way two fighters’ careers are right now, but he needs to pull the trigger on the fight now while he still can.
Joshua already did a rebuild, and it didn’t work, and the fans won’t be interested in seeing him repeat the process.
“To take away AJ’s emotions, to take away the fighter in him, to take away the prize. Do we wait until December 21 and see what happens with Tyson Fury, or do we jump right back in with Daniel Dubois?” Eddie Hearn told DAZN Boxing about what Anthony Joshua should do next.
If Fury loses to Usyk by knockout, Hearn may have to consider waiting until Tyson gets a win under his belt before taking on Joshua. It will look very bad if Fury goes into the AJ fight after a KO loss. It would be three straight losses for Fury as his win against Francis Ngannou in 2023 was highly questionable.
If you saw that fight, like I did, you’ll know that the three judges in Riyadh gave Fury a gift decision. Fury looked weak in that fight.
“Daniel Dubois is probably going to fight in February. Are we ready to go in February? Is this the right move for us? This is the next decision. For me, we have to fight Tyson Fury before it’s over,” Hearn continued.
“If Tyson Fury loses to Oleksandr Usyk, my advice to those two (Joshua and Fury) is to have two fights in 2025 and then ride off into the sunset. May the best man win. If Fury wins against Oleksandr Usyk, AJ Fury can fight for the unified heavyweight championship.”
“We have to fight Tyson Fury next” –@EddieHearn on next steps for @anthonyjoshua 👀 pic.twitter.com/FqANAoyQWm
— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) September 25, 2024
