Nigerian-born world heavyweight boxing champion, Anthony Olaseni Oluwafemi Joshua reportedly doubts the possibility of his much talked about unification fight with British rival, Tyson Fury ever taking place.
Megasportsarena.com reports that, despite repeated declarations announcing the likelihood of a megabucks face-off between both Brits, ‘AJ’ appears inclined to doubt its reality.
This is the startling revelation of Joshua’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, who spilled the beans when he pointed out that ‘AJ’ already believes his hopes of facing Fury are over, due to an order forcing his rival to tango America’s Deontay Wilder next month.
Indeed, plans for the all-British heavyweight showdown were dashed when a legal ruling in the United States wrecked a proposed fight in Saudi Arabia on August 14, as an arbitration hearing upheld claims from Wilder that he has a contract for a third fight with WBC champion Fury.
It means Joshua will now face Ukraine’s Oleksandr Usyk in September while Fury battles Wilder for their trilogy on July 24 and defeat by either of the Brits would finally dash their unification talks, though victory for both would reopen expectations of a potential undisputed bout.
Talks between the two parties continue, a date of either September 18 or 25 is expected to be finalised with the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium also likely to host the bout, but Joshua has turned his focus to an expected meeting with Usyk.
Fury has already suggested his fellow-Briton will lose and Hearn admitted that talk is fuelling Joshua in the build-up to facing Usyk, who was undisputed cruiserweight champion before he made the step up in weight two years ago, but Hearn suggests a unification is no longer possible.
Hearn disclosed: “AJ never felt they wanted the fight, he never felt like Fury wanted it. He always doubted it and when it fell through he was like ‘I f****** knew it, you’re f****** jokers, all of you’ so I guess it was very strange to see him do the tweets and he fired a few out didn’t he.
“He usually does one and goes quiet. I think AJ, in his head, probably thinks the fight will never happen. I would like to be more hopeful and I think it will happen.
“If AJ knocks out Usyk and Fury knocks out Wilder then in four months we are talking about an even bigger fight. One could lose or look bad but I do get the feeling if they both win then the fight is huge.
“I am hoping it works out for the best. AJ knows how good Usyk is but he wants to do a job on him because he also knows people are unsure about him winning the fight and I think he likes that.
“He has done four weeks of southpaw sparring up in Sheffield and he is gearing himself up for a big fight. We just hope that everywhere is open because we want to do 60-70,000 at Spurs.”
