Eddie Hearn has reacted to the UK report that Anthony Joshua is willing to allow heavyweight king Tyson Fury to face Oleksandr Usyk for a $20 million payoff.
Joshua’s promoter says they are keeping all possibilities on the table ahead of a final decision on what the former heavyweight champion does next.
Hearn assured fans of AJ that the Briton’s only focus is on regaining his old position as a belt-holder.
The Matchroom boss told Sky Sports: “I’m meeting with AJ and 258 management [on Tuesday] to go through plans for his next fight.
“We have a number of proposals and options to discuss. The goal remains the same, of course. To re-capture the world heavyweight crown.”
HEAVYWEIGHT MOVE
Alexander Krassyuk, Usyk’s representative, is awaiting the news with bated breath.
‘We are in talks regarding Fury fight since November,” Krassyuk also told Sky Sports.
“And though AJ gave his consent [to a rumored step-aside], we still have not reached the final point in negotiations.
“And unless we get it, the AJ rematch remains the basic option for us.”
Fury’s American handler Bob Arum exclusively told World Boxing News recently that Joshua has no chance of beating Usyk. Therefore, the two-time ruler would be wasting his time in a rematch with the formidable Ukrainian.
“Usyk has an obligation to fight a rematch with Joshua. In my opinion, they can make all the excuses they want for Joshua, but Joshua is not able to beat Usyk,” Arum pointed out to WBN.
“Maybe a fluke happens, and he’s able to beat him. But Usyk is so much a better fighter than Joshua because Usyk will box the pants off of Joshua.
“Anthony Joshua really doesn’t know particularly well how to fight a southpaw. And then if they box, Usyk will beat him ten out of ten times.
“So Joshua has one chance, and that chance is to take it to Usyk. But if he does that, he exposes his chin.
“The one thing about Joshua that people don’t mention as to why he fights the way he does is because he’s chinny, chin, chin.”
FURY vs. USYK
On Fury facing Usyk, it was a different story for Arum.
“I think you’d have to go with Fury. He is a very good boxer, and the size [difference] is tremendous. Obviously, he wouldn’t be able to do the same thing to Fury as he did to Joshua.
“It would be an interesting matchup. It could probably happen down the road, but I don’t see Usyk having the ammunition to beat a Fury,” Arum told WBN.
More will get revealed on Joshua’s next move this week. However, the favored matchup is still a rematch with Usyk.
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