Promoter Eddie Hearn recommends that his fighter, Anthony Joshua, await the outcome of the rematch between Tyson Fury and unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk on December 21st.
(Credit: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing)
Joshua’s money fight is against Fury, not in a rematch against IBF heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois. His Excellency Turki Alalshikh has already said he wants Joshua-Fury to happen next. So, the two popular heavyweights need to give Turki what he wants and battle it out in early 2025.
Fans would obviously like to see Joshua attempt to avenge his fifth-round knockout defeat from last weekend first before moving on to the Fury fight. However, that would be a risky move for Joshua for two reasons:
- AJ could get knocked out again by Dubois
- Fury may get beaten in his first defense
Joshua and Fury (34-1-1, 24 KOs) must fight while they can before they suffer additional losses because both are getting on in years. Fury looked like a frightful mess losing to Usyk last May, and Joshua looked worse getting crushed by Dubois last Saturday night at Wembley Stadium in London.
“My advice is don’t do anything until Dec 21st – the Oleksandr Usyk vs Tyson Fury rematch,” said Eddie Hearn to Sky Sports Boxing about his plans for Anthony Joshua’s next fight. “If Fury loses it could set up a big fight vs Joshua, if Fury wins he could take a voluntary defence vs. Joshua. It’s still the biggest fight in the division by a mile.”
If Fury can defeat Usyk, he will go into the mega-fight against Joshua as a three-belt champion. The winner of the contest could then battle IBF champ Dubois for the undisputed championship in the second half of 2025.
Many fans gave up on Fury after his loss to Usyk last May. For him to come back to defeat Usyk and then Joshua would be a huge turnaround for the Gyspy King.
Just going by Fury’s last performance, he’ll probably lose to Usyk on December 21st and will go into the Joshua fight coming off a loss. That’s okay. If Fury isn’t knocked out like Joshua, their fight will still be marketable on DAZN PPV. If Matchroom and Queensberry include an excellent undercard to interest U.S fans in purchasing the event on pay-per-view, it’ll do good numbers.
