Do you agree with promoter Eddie Hearn when he says his fighter Anthony Joshua is “still the biggest star in the heavyweight division, having just lost?” Hearn, speaking with Sky Sports, stated that former two-time heavyweight champ Joshua “can walk into any fight.”
Just what Joshua’s next fight will be, we must wait and see, but it now seems a certainty AJ will not go into an immediate rematch with Daniel Dubois, this despite talk of a quick “revenge mission” against the man who sensationally KO’s Joshua a few weeks back in front of a rocking Wembley Stadium.
Hearn is absolutely right when he says Joshua is still a star, but it’s down to opinion when it comes to whether or not the 34-year-old is still the “biggest” star of the heavyweight division. Joshua badly needs a comeback win, which means something if his career is to continue. And here again, Hearn feels his fighter is in a good place despite losing, as he has plenty of fight options.
“As frustrating as it is to certain people in boxing, AJ is arguably still the biggest star in the heavyweight division, having just lost,” Hearn said. “That’s the reality of the situation. He’s going to be fine. He can walk into any fight. Personally, he wants to fight Daniel Dubois. Maybe we will fight him in the summer, or maybe we will see what happens on December 21 (the Usyk-Fury rematch). I think Fury, win or lose, will want to fight AJ next and that’s something we’ve got to decide.”
In truth, nobody – maybe not even Fury himself – can know with any degree of certainty what Fury might do if he loses to Usyk again. It is possible Fury, having to accept the fact that he is not the number-one man in the division as a result of a second loss at the hands of Usyk, could retire. We just don’t know. But as for Joshua, if he waits for the Dubois fight and then Dubois gets beaten in the meantime, and if Fury, for whatever reason, doesn’t want to fight him, where does Joshua go then?
Hearn feels his fighter is in a good position and is “going to be fine.” But is he really?
