KEY POINTS

  • Eddie Hearn opens up about the collapse of Tyson Fury vs. Anthony Joshua fight
  • Hearn insists Joshua's next possible opponent Oleksandr Usyk is still a fight to look forward to
  • Usyk's camp is hoping to close a deal with Hearn soon

Eddie Hearn isn’t 100% sure about who will Anthony Joshua fight next, but he has made one thing clear about the highly-anticipated bout.

Just when most boxing fans thought that the Tyson Fury vs. Anthony Joshua heavyweight bout was close to reality, the deal broke down, and “The Gypsy King” ended up facing his nemesis Deontay Wilder in a trilogy fight.

However, the Matchroom Sport boss reassured that the British champ might still be slated for an exciting match soon.

Addressing the subject, Hearn admitted that the Fury vs. Joshua fight may have been botched, but the latter still has plenty of options and Oleksandr Usyk is one of them.

“I think that fight is quite automatic,” Hearn recently told reporters of Joshua vs, Usyk. “It has been sensible. So as long as everyone is sensible, I think that’s the fight.”

Further hyping the looming heavyweight showdown, Hearn stressed that Usyk may not be as big as Fury, but he still makes an interesting foe for Joshua.

“It’s a very good fight,” the veteran promoter stressed. “It’s not the [Tyson] Fury fight which is the one we wanted but it’s still a very good fight.”

Knockout: Anthony Joshua (right) knocked out Bulgaria's Kubrat Pulev (left)to retain his three world heavyweight titles on Saturday
Knockout: Anthony Joshua (right) knocked out Bulgaria's Kubrat Pulev (left)to retain his three world heavyweight titles on Saturday POOL / ANDREW COULDRIDGE

In another interview with DAZN’s Chris Mannix, Hearn made some bold claims as to why the Fury vs. Joshua fight fell apart.

According to the 41-year-old, he has a feeling that Joshua opted not to pursue Fury as the latter “never wanted” a piece of him inside the ring.

Moreso, Hearn also suggested that it is hard to get a deal done with Top Rank's Bob Arum.

"I think it was pretty intentional," Hearn said about the Fury vs. Joshua collapse. "AJ felt that Fury never wanted to fight. I don't know."

"I don't particularly trust people on that side," he added. "Some people couldn't let that fight happen. They wanted to keep some kind of control.”

However, Hearn is not closing the door for the talked-about heavyweight collision.

“When they [Fury and Joshua] say, they might want [the fight] in December, who knows?"

As for Usyk, the Ukrainian's team is optimistic the Joshua fight will come to fruition sooner rather than later.

"We are in the middle of negotiations now and things look optimistic," Usyk's promoter Alexander Krassyuk told Sky Sports.

"As long as I am informed there are no visible obstacles to the deal not to take place, hopefully, it will be completed within the rendered timing."

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