Via Knitting Ambrosio: Head of matchmaking Eddie Hearn claimed that Anthony Joshua’s career would be over if he lost his match in April at the O2 Arena in London.
With the bout expected to be a gimmick for Joshua (24-3, 22 KOs) against a heavyweight boxer in the lower division, defeat in this bout would be the last straw that made his career fall. his sunk.
If there was any doubt in AJ, fans, and in Hearn’s mind that it was all over, Joshua losing to a mediocre boxer would be the absolute limit.
Joshua, 33, is more likely to retire on his own rather than fire his new coach and continue to grind his job hunting coaches.
It will be interesting to see what opponent new Hearn and Joshua coaches have chosen for him to try and rebuild his shattered confidence in the April tweaks will be interesting.
“AJ wants to have a big fight in the summer, and the logical thing that should be fairly simple to do is rematch with Dillian Whyte,” Eddie Hearn says iFL TV about the rematch between Anthony Joshua and Dillian Whyte in July.
“With AJ fighting in April and Dillian possibly fighting at the same time, that should lead them to an all-England heavyweight bout in the summer.
“I spoke to Dillian, and the plan is to try to do that for the summer game. Apparently, AJ has to deal with April 1st. Once we’re done with that with Dillian, and then we’ll see when he fights. Let’s see if we can find a deal between those two for the summer.
“That’s the first thing we’ll do, then we’ll see the return date of Dillian Whyte. He will want to fight again before July, and probably around the same time as AJ, and that is indeed the path for Dillian Whyte.
“In the meantime, he is ready to fight anyone. Could be Deontay Wilder, Andy Ruiz.
“They have a good relationship,” Hearn said when asked if Joshua has a good relationship with his current former coach Robert Garcia. “Robert is an excellent coach.
“It was a good performance by Anthony in the second game [with Oleksandr Usyk], and Robert did a great job, but AJ looked around and felt this was the best move for him, and those two got along really well. That’s it. Robert is one of the best coaches in the world.
“I just feel this is the coach and team that AJ is ready to move forward. He’s taking that step and that commitment to America, which shows his commitment to the sport and the fact that he wants to improve and he’s ready.
“Probably four weeks ago,” Hearn said when asked if he had spoken to Deontay Wilder’s manager recently. “We talked about various pieces of the puzzle that I won’t go into, but other than that, he’s gearing up to fight Andy Ruiz. It was the war that was ordered by the WBC.
“I said, ‘Look, Joshua’s going to fight in April, and we’d be happy to fight Wilder after that.’ I want the game against Wilder in 2023 and I know AJ does too. It was a big war.
“Sure, you have to know that I want to do the biggest fights for the most money. You can have it in both ways. It’s a bit like the fight between Leigh Wood – Mauricio Lara.
“People are texting me, saying, ‘You’re a joke for being in that fight. He will be knocked down.’ Climb up. If I put him with a guy you’ve never heard of, you’d say, ‘That’s a fighting joke. When are you going to bring him in with a serious person?’
“You can’t say I’m a money freak [person] and then say I don’t want to get into the wars that will make me the most money. Do you understand? tthere is no financial value in making a small fight Anthony Joshuat.
“People talk about, ‘He’s your cash cow.’ You do not understand. The way I’m going to make the most money is to put him in the biggest fights I can.
“I want to do things that are right for his career, but I also want him to be in the big fights. Of course I do. First, he wants to go to big fights, and second, of course, everyone wants to make money. You can have it in both ways.
“Of course, I want an Anthony Joshua-Deontay Wilder fight. One, as a fighting fan; two, because I think AJ wins the match, and three, will make a lot of money from that match. So don’t be under the illusion that I don’t want to make that fight.
“I want to make that fight. I want to make Tyson Fury fight. I’m so glad AJ will have this game in April to get back on his winning path, come back to improve and have time with his new team to stick with since he left Usyk- Usyk is back with different teams. a lot going on.
“I am very excited; I’m really glad. This is the most exciting thing I’ve had in Anthony Joshua’s journey so far because I think it’s very exciting. You entered that war in April, and you know that defeat, it’s all over, really.
“It will be the third back-to-back loss, but a great performance and a knockout at the gallery will make everyone say, ‘We’re back, honey.’ It’s something I can’t wait for because I like it when we have our backs against the wall. You must understand that.
“Those are the best moments and this is one of the best moments for AJ. He would still fight Usyk again, but he lost to him twice. If a third war happens, the second is much closer than the second. I can’t tell you it’s the goal to fight Usyk a third time.
“The goal will be to fight Tyson Fury, Deontay Wilder, Dillian Whyte, all the big fights. I’m sure the Fury-Usyk fight will be done. I do not know when. Obviously we are going to have Ramadan. People talk about May, but the problem is that the WBA has decided that their mandatory match will be next.
“So Daniel Dubois is in a golden position because, in the end, he is staying out of that fight. So congratulations to Daniel Dubois. He’s about to make a ton of free money, and Filip Hrgovic is an IBF must-have.
“The winner of that war [Usyk vs. Fury]will be attacked with all sorts of compulsions. It always happens with the undisputed. You saw it with Josh Taylor. So a lot of these world heavyweight championship belts will be vacant.
“The belt is always important. The goal is for AJ to be the world heavyweight champion, but if Tyson Fury fights and Deontay Wilder fights, if they have the belt, that’s great.
“But do they need belts, no, not really. I really hope AJ will fight Tyson Fury because even from a purely selfish point of view, I feel like if we didn’t do that fight at some stage, I really don’t feel like I am. reason why that war didn’t happen’ doesn’t happen.
“I feel like I won’t let anyone down, but I know how many times I get asked every day about fights on the street, at the gas station, anywhere. I feel like I wouldn’t want to finish boxing without hitting that fight.
“This is not the case, ‘Oh, it won’t work when they’re not prime.’ They are at their peak now and they will be in the next year or two. I can’t control what other people do or if other people retire, or if people get hurt. But personally, I really want to make that fight.
“I know AJ really wants that fight, and I know Fury will accept that fight. We’ll see what happens,” Hearn said.
