Nigerian-born world heavyweight boxing champion, Anthony Olaseni Oluwafemi Joshua might end up fighting fellow-British pugilist, Tyson Fury before this year runs out, if the wishes of his promoter, Eddie Hearn see the light of day, megasportsarena.com reports.
Although Fury is already contracted to a ‘three-fight-bargain’ with Deontay Wilder, who he sank in round seven over the weekend, Hearn insists a date with ‘AJ’ will be fixed for ‘The Gypsy King’ before 2020 runs its full course.
Joshua also has two mandatory fights to prosecute in the coming months, but Hearn insists he will do everything possible to set up a unification fight this year against Fury, saying it wants it to become the biggest fight in the history of the sport worldwide.
Fury won the WBC world heavyweight title after stopping Wilder in Las Vegas, USA in the early hours of Sunday, to inflict the first defeat of the American fighter’s professional career, some 14 months on from their first clash ended in a controversial draw in Los Angeles.
The vast majority of observers believed Fury actually won that first fight, and he proved them right with his dominance at MGM Grand in the rematch, with a resounding display in which he twice knocked Wilder to the canvas before the towel came in during the seventh round.
Fury’s fellow Briton, Joshua holds the WBA, IBF, WBO and IBO titles, after winning his rematch against Andy Ruiz Jr on December 7, and Hearn believes the two camps now have a once in a lifetime chance to make a high-profile unification fight happen.
Hearn said on TalkSport: “What a time for British boxing. To have one world heavyweight champion would be great but to have two with all the belts, we will never see it again. I have said and I will make this clear, we have to make this fight happen. We will never get the chance for two Brits to fight for an undisputed heavyweight world championship.
“I will promise you we will do everything we can to make this fight happen. The first thing is that Wilder has the rematch clause. I don’t think anyone wants to see a third fight, it was that conclusive, but we will see if he wants to exercise that. I probably expect Wilder (to take the rematch). I don’t see where else he has to go.
“Our mandatory challenger Kubrat Pulev is also promoted by Bob Arum, Tyson Fury’s promoter, so there is a very easy manoeuvre there if Wilder doesn’t want the rematch to go straight into this undisputed fight in the summer. That’s what we have to push for initially.”
Incidentally, the opposing camp appears to be thinking in the same direction, as Fury’s US promoters want to “strike while the iron is hot” and set up a mega-fight with Joshua this year.
Top Rank Promotions president, Todd DuBoef told Sky Sports: “Of course. There is nothing stopping it. In today’s world, we know that demand or massive interest is unparalleled. I’ve been in the business for 25 years. Sometimes there is interest in a fighter but not necessarily in a match.
“People have more choices now so the barometers have risen of what you have to present. It must be compelling. People want to see Joshua, but they want to see him in the ring with the best. And that should be our objective – to move towards [fights that capture mainstream interest].
“While we have momentum now, I’d love to see the fight later this year. Strike while the iron is hot. Fury has a really tough match in Wilder but, I believe, this is when you make matches. [Joshua vs Fury] is massive across the board. We must listen to the fans, listen to the world, listen to the people supporting boxing by making these compelling matches as soon as possible.”
