Promoter Eddie Hearn says he’s ready to make a fight between the dethroned WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua next if the Gypsy King doesn’t fight a rematch with undisputed champion Oleksandr Usyk.
Fury’s Fork in the Road: Humiliation or More Humiliation?
It’s a classy move on Hearn’s part, tossing a bone to down and out Fury in his hour of need with his career at the lowest point after what Usyk did to him last weekend. It’s a tough decision for Fury.
He can take the kind offer by Hearn and get humiliated by Joshua in a likely knockout loss or face Usyk in a rematch and get humiliated by him. I see it as a simple choice. Take the fight that will pay the most, and that’s obviously the Joshua match.
If Fury lets his pride rule his actions, he’ll decline Hearn’s offer, fight Usyk, and lose again. Once Fury loses that fight, the option for the Joshua payday is likely gone forever.
What we saw last Saturday night and in Fury’s previous match against Francis Ngannou is that he’s an old man now, faded and washed, vulnerable to almost anybody in the division.
Hearn’s Motives: Savior or Opportunist?
It’s hard to know what Hearn’s motives are with this affair. Does he feel sorry for Fury and care about his well-being, or is he looking to take advantage of him being shot to bits and an easy target for Joshua to evaporate with one of his right-hand bombs?
Joshua can make a lot of money fighting Fury right now, but it won’t be there if he faces Usyk again and loses.
Fury (34-1-1, 24 KOs) will need to decide quickly if he wants to take the fight with Joshua while it’s still on the table for him.
The Gypsy King Fury has a rematch clause for a second clash with Usyk if he chooses to use it, which might not be the wisest move after his humiliation last Saturday night in his 12-round split decision defeat in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Hearn seems to be throwing a lifeline to the 35-year-old Fury by giving him a face-saving excuse not to take the rematch with Usyk (22-0, 14 KOs) by offering him a chance to fight Joshua.
“He’s ready to fight anybody. He’d love to fight Oleksandr Usyk again, he’d love to fight Tyson Fury, happy to fight Filip Hrgovic, Daniel Dubois, Joseph Parker, Deontay Wilder. Anybody who wants it can get it,” said Eddie Hearn to Matchroom Boxing on Anthony Joshua being ready to fight Tyson Fury next if the rematch with Oleksandr Usyk doesn’t happen.
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