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Home » Eddie Hearn’s Anthony Joshua shortlist disintegrates, down to one name

Eddie Hearn’s Anthony Joshua shortlist disintegrates, down to one name

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Eddie Hearn released several names recently into the public domain as potential alternatives to fight Anthony Joshua on June 1.

The Matchroom boss said the likes of Luis Ortiz, Adam Kownacki, Manuel Charr, Agit Kayabel and Michael Hunter were possible replacements for Jarrell Miller.

Joshua was forced to act after Miller was denied a boxing license in New York for their Madison Square Garden clash. Miller had an adverse finding from a VADA test in March.

This left Hearn and Joshua with a headache leading to a list being drawn up.

Discussing the search, Hearn moved to rule out former Deontay Wilder opponent Ortiz.

“Luis Ortiz was one of the first people that I spoke to actually, his manager, a guy called Jay Jimenez, who we’ve worked with before,” Hearn told Sky Sports.

“He told me it was too short notice. I disagreed with him, but they are going to be speaking to their fighter. I think the Luis Ortiz fight is a great fight, he has been promised the Deontay Wilder fight as well, by his team, which is a bit worrying for us to hear that news.”

The Ortiz withdrawal adds to Kownacki’s representatives stating the Brooklyn-based fighter wouldn’t take the fight on short notice.

It’s since been noted that both Ortiz and Kownacki are Al Haymon heavyweights and would be in line for a shot at Wilder with a full camp.

With those two out, Hearn is down to one name in Michael Hunter. This comes after Hearn stated he wanted an American or a fighter with US ties, effectively ruling out Charr and Kabayel as Europeans.

NAMES

WBN pointed out a few other names in a recent article. These contenders may now be brought into the fray.

Oscar Rivas, Artur Szplika, Chris Arreola. Trevor Bryan and Jermaine Franklin were those mentioned.

Rivas is with Top Rank, with Szpilka and Arreola have worked with PBC in the recent past. Bryan is with Don King.

Franklin, on the other hand, is promoted by Dmitriy Salita – the same as Jarrell Miller.

The scramble continues.

On when fans can expect confirmation, Hearn concluded: “We’re going through that. We’re going to be working hard in the next couple of days.

“There will be an announcement from us in the early part of next week, locking in Anthony Joshua’s next opponent.”