Eddie Hearn insists the road is clear for the long-awaited dream match between Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury – provided the Gypsy King wants it. Both British boxing legends are coming off bruising title defeats, with Joshua being knocked out by Daniel Dubious at Wembley and Fury losing his rematch with Oleksandr Usyk in Saudi Arabia last month.
Those defeats have naturally dulled the enthusiasm for a Joshua-Fury showdown among some fans, although it would still be a mouth-watering and lucrative prospect, even with no belts on the line. Joshua has made it clear he wants the fight while Fury is weighing up his future following his second loss to Usyk.
If the Gypsy King, 36, does decide to extend his career, Joshua’s promoter, Hearn, insists the fight can be made “immediately”. The Matchroom boss told The Stomping Ground on YouTube: “It’s the fight that everyone wants. Tell me a bigger fight? There isn’t one.
“I don’t know if it’s going to happen. There have been no discussions. Fury’s coming off that defeat and after his break, he’s going to decide what he wants to do. If he wants to fight AJ, the fight happens immediately. We’ll see.”
Hearn says it is too soon to be applying pressure to Fury and his team. He said: “I don’t think it’s the time to start prodding Tyson Fury. Don’t forget, he lost on December 21, so give him a few weeks to chill out.
“Sooner or later, in the coming weeks, we will want to put a plan together for Anthony Joshua. That is when the conversation will come with Frank Warren [Fury’s promoter], Spencer Brown [Fury’s manager] and His Excellency [Turki Alalshikh] and say, ‘we want to make AJ-Fury – what do you think? We’ll go from there.”
Warren also won’t be putting any pressure on Fury. Writing recently in his Daily Star column, the Queensbury boss said: “I will not be picking up the phone and asking Tyson Fury to fight again.
“If opportunities come my way for him they will be passed on. But there will be no advice from me on whether or not Tyson should take them. I haven’t spoken to him yet about an Anthony Joshua fight and I will only do so if he comes to me and says he wants to get in the ring with him.
“My only hope is for Tyson to be happy and content with life. If he is then I’d be prouder than you can ever imagine. If he does decide to box again then I’ll support him 100%. It’s a decision for him, his wife Paris and their family.”
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