HAMBURG – Eddie Hearn expects the outcome Oleksandr Usyk-Tyson Fury to determine Anthony Joshua’s next move.
Usyk and Fury meet in a rematch in Riyadh on December 21, having contested one of the year’s best fights in May.
One interested observer will be Joshua, who is looking to rebound from his loss to Daniel Dubois in September.
There had been speculation Joshua might fight Dubois again on February 22, but Dubois instead fights Joseph Parker as Joshua recovers from injuries from before and during the Dubois fight.
Hearn said that those injuries were not serious, but added: “He’s not in full training yet, he won’t properly start training until January, so he’s looking to fight in May or June.”
“Nothing major,” Hearn said of the injuries. “More like niggles from training camp and a bit more in the fight – he can train but he can’t start camp, and that’s why we couldn’t take February 22nd which all things considered is probably the right decision, and hopefully after next week it could be a really good decision, but we will see what happens.”
Asked whether Joshua’s goal was the winner of the Fury-Usyk bout, Hearn revealed that revenge on Dubois was likely in the forefront of Joshua’s mind.
“His goal is Daniel Dubois,” he said. “If you’re a fighter and you get beat, you want to avenge that defeat, or attempt to, so I don’t think he’s going to change. I think that now, if Fury wins, that fight is huge, if he [Fury] loses, it’s still huge. Next week will be interesting.”
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