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Eddie Hearn reveals talks for Joshua to step aside and allow Usyk vs Fury fight
Published 19:59 4 Dec 2021 GMT
Updated 11:26 5 Dec 2021 GMT
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The talks would see Anthony Joshua step aside from his fight with Oleksandr Usyk to allow a unification fight between Usyk and Tyson Fury
Eddie Hearn has revealed that he has received an approach from Oleksandr Usyk's team which would see Anthony Joshua step aside from their rematch to allow a unification fight between the Ukrainian and Tyson Fury, reports the Metro. Usyk was victorious against Joshua at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in September, taking his IBF, WBO and WBA heavyweight titles as a result. Meanwhile, Fury won his last fight against Deontay Wilder as they concluded their trilogy of fights back in October to become the WBC heavyweight champion. The 'Gypsy King' had his sights set on fighting the Ukrainian next in a battle to see who would become the unified heavyweight champion, but the defeated Joshua activated a rematch clause between him and Usyk, which looks set to take place in 2022. But it now seems that Usyk's team have other ideas and Hearn confirmed he had received an approach, but has yet to discuss it with Joshua. Speaking on the Boxing King Media podcast, he said: "We’ve had their team reach out to us."At the moment, there’s communication between the two teams to say, ‘Is it something that [you’d consider].
"And the answer is; AJ has not been spoken [to] about this yet.
"I’ll deal with it and when I feel there’s an opportunity for Anthony and 258, we’ll sit down with them and present that to them." The Matchroom Boxing owner then added that he won't speak to the Brit until he feels the time is right. "But I don’t want to do that until I feel it’s the right opportunity because he’s not gonna be happy because he just wants to fight Oleksandr Usyk," Hearn added. "But if there’s a route, there’s an offer and it makes sense, we’ll see. But right now, just conversations." Meanwhile Joshua has previously stated that he could be persuaded to move aside, should he be given an offer he deems good enough. He said: "In terms of stepping aside, I don’t know if that goes in line with what a morally stand for… but I want to be known as one of the smartest businessmen as well."I want to make the smart decisions and if the money is right we would have to look at it but respect has more value than money.
"Will I take the step-aside money? If its a smart business move… will it affect my reputation and respect?
"Will I still get to fight the best fighters? Those are the three things I have to consider."
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