The promoter of Anthony Joshua, Eddie Hearn, believes that the British-Nigerian fighter needs one more bout before facing one of the best heavyweights boxers in the game – Tyson Fury, Deontay Wilder, or Oleksandr Usyk.
After defeating Jermaine Franklin on April 1 to return to reckoning, Joshua, a two-time heavyweight champion is being urged to accept one more fight under his new trainer, Derrick James, before facing the finest boxers in the world. Eddie Hearn, his promoter has also joined his voice to this call.
Amidst this, Joshua has revealed that he has decided to accept a fight in December rather than compete in July as originally planned.
But Hearn told DAZN that Joshua should proceed cautiously and that his decision was not based on a strategic consideration.
“You’re better off being honest and saying look, this is where we’re at. I need him to have another fight with a level slightly above Jermaine Franklin to gel with Derrick James, hopefully, go in there with a little bit more confidence to prepare him for Fury or Wilder in December”, Hearn said.
The reason Joshua wanted to wait until December before accepting a fight is said to be based on his trainer’s commitments, fear of injury, or losing before a more lucrative fight.
While Hearn insists that he wants to see Joshua fight against boxers who are not currently A-listers, he added that he and his team “are not ruling” out a Joshua VS Fury Or Wilder this year.
“We’ll look at those”, he added. “If a big offer comes in or a big site comes in, unlikely in July but I just really want to see momentum”.
