Eddie Hearn has insisted Anthony Joshua will fight Tyson Fury regardless of the outcome of his Oleksandr Usyk rematch. The so-called ‘Battle of Britain’ bout remains merely a concept for the time being.
Fury appears set on running it back with Usyk following his split-decision defeat to the Ukrainian in Saudi Arabia last weekend. And there is of course the potential of a trilogy should he avenge the first loss of his career.
Having flirted with retirement on multiple occasions in the past, the Gypsy King also has question marks about his future beyond that. But speaking to iFL TV, Hearn remained assured that he and AJ will one day finally meet in the ring.
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He said: “Firstly it was a tremendous fight. We’re also only a few days off the back of it. It takes time to accept defeat, to realise your injuries, to lick your wounds, so we’ll see how everything plays out.
“If you’re Fury, you’re going to want another crack at Usyk. It was a great fight, the rematch will be a great fight. For AJ, he wants to become three-time heavyweight champion so I think he’s got to stay focused on whoever he fights next.
“[He would] love to fight Fury next, love to fight Usyk. If not, it could be the winner of [Filip] Hrgovic against [Daniel] Dubois next week. But ready for all comers.”
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Hearn was then pushed to confirm if he believes Fury vs Joshua will happen, responding: “I do, I do. Whether Fury wins or loses the rematch I think we’ll see that fight. But obviously we wanted him to win. I do think he can win the rematch, and that would be the ideal scenario.”
A date in October has been pencilled in for Fury vs Usyk II, and that would likely mean a potential third fight following in the spring of next year. In that scenario, Joshua won’t be able to face him until at least the back end of 2025.
He’s keen to get back to action soon following his convincing second-round knockout of Francis Ngannou in March. September has been earmarked for him to face the winner of Hrgovic vs Dubois, with the IBF heavyweight title possibly on the line if Usyk is stripped of it.