PROMOTER EDDIE HEARN hopes Deontay Wilder is up next for his unified heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua because Tyson Fury is “the most unentertaining fighter” he has ever seen.
Joshua retained his IBF, WBA and WBO titles with a brutal seventh-round stoppage of veteran Russian Alexander Povetkin at Wembley last night.
The opening bell chimed less than 24 hours after it was confirmed that WBC king Wilder and former undefeated champion Fury will meet on 1 December.
Joshua has Wembley booked again for his next assignment on 13 April, meaning there is an obvious clamour for him to take on the Wilder-Fury winner and crown an undisputed ruler of boxing’s glamour division.
Hearn acknowledges a Wilder victory would make his life relatively easier, because of the likelihood voluntary challenger Fury will be subject to a rematch clause should he prevail.
But after another crowd in the region of 80,000 watched Joshua come through a bloodied nose and some tricky moments to produce a sensational finish, the Matchroom boss is also mindful of the entertainment factor.
“I don’t want to be disrespectful but Tyson Fury is the most unentertaining fighter I’ve ever seen,” Hearn told a post-fight news conference.
“He’s never been in a good fight in his whole career apart from that one against [Steve] Cunningham where he was knocked down.
“Deontay Wilder against Joshua is the biggest fight in world boxing and stylistically it’s the most exciting match-up you could possibly make in boxing.”
Negotiations between Hearn and Wilder’s camp have been fractious and unsuccessful to date, and Joshua has no over-riding preference over who his next opponent is, with a rematch against domestic rival Dillian Whyte an alternative that would be far easier to lock down.
“I’ll fight all of them, one at a time. Wilder next? No problem,” he said, before playing down Fury’s chances of an upset.
“I look forward to both of them fighting. Good luck to Wilder. Once he wins, the opportunity is there. Hopefully we can get that deal signed and sealed before December so I can start planning my future.”
On the prospect of further defining nights moving a little closer, Joshua added: “We’ve been negotiating [with Wilder] since the [Carlos] Takam fight. It takes long. But we’re in the same division, the same weight. It’s the same time, the same era. So we have to fight. It would be silly not to. Just give it time and it will happen.”
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