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Eddie Hearn has praised Anthony Joshua for choosing to fight Oleksandr Usyk over Tyson Fury.
'AJ' is set to face 'The Cat' later this month in Saudi Arabia. The bout will be a rematch of their September 2021 thriller. In that outing, Usyk walked into Joshua's home country and walked away with the WBA (Super), WBO, IBO, and IBF heavyweight crowns after a decision win.
The two are now set for a rematch later this month, with the hope being that the winner will face Tyson Fury in a heavyweight unification bout down the line. However, according to Joshua's promoter, Eddie Hearn, his fighter could've been fighting 'The Gypsy King' next.
In an interview with IFL TV, the head of Matchroom Boxing discussed the possibility of Joshua and Fury fighting. The promoter revealed that when it comes to that potential bout, the pair likely could've squared off instead of 'AJ' fighting Usyk.
However, the Brit wanted to re-capture his titles, so the rematch is happening. In Hearn's eyes, that deserves praise.
"Again, to be honest with you, 'AJ' probably could've skipped this fight and fought Tyson Fury. That fight’s always going to be the biggest in boxing. But he [Joshua] doesn’t want to. He wants to win his belts back. He thinks he can beat Oleksandr Usyk. So he should be getting tremendous credit for not just fighting him once, but going straight back into the rematch.”
Watch Hearn's interview with IFL TV below:
Could Anthony Joshua vs. Tyson Fury happen?
Tyson Fury claimed to have retired earlier this year, but was almost instantly linked to a matchup with the winner of Anthony Joshua vs. Oleksandr Usyk 2.
Following his victory over Dillian Whyte in April, the WBC Heavyweight Champion seemingly decided to hang up the gloves. However, he soon went back on his word and teased a showdown with Francis Ngannou.
Instead of facing the UFC heavyweight champion, Fury has instead been linked to a fight with the winner of Joshua vs. Usyk 2. For the most part, 'The Gypsy King' has seemed open to fighting the winner. Well, if it's 'AJ', that is.
In the immediate future, it seems that Joshua could finally meet Fury if all goes according to plan. However, the WBC titleholder has recently been linked to a matchup with Derek Chisora as well. Granted, that could just be a back-up option if Joshua does lose to the Ukrainian again.
