Promoter Eddie Hearn says Anthony Joshua will fight Filip Hrgovic next for the IBF heavyweight title once the belt becomes vacant.
Hearn appears to have decided he wants the unbeaten Hrgovic (17-0, 14 KOs), number one in the IBF rankings, after his first-round knockout victory over Mark De Mori last Saturday night in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
There are bigger money fights available for Joshua, such as a clash against Deontay Wilder, WBO interim champion Zhilei Zhang or Jared Anderson, but Hearn wants Hrgovic, 31, whom he promotes.
The allure of the IBF title
Hearn doesn’t say what his real reason is for wanting Joshua to face his fighter Hrgovic, apart from perhaps selfish reasons, but AJ needs the IBF title as a bargaining chip for negotiations with the winner of the rematch between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk.
In addition, it makes it a bigger fight on paper and with the fans because it would once again be for what is indisputable. These fights win over fans, giving Joshua the opportunity to fight for the undisputed instead of just three belts.
Hearn has things figured out in his mind and is calculating how he will move AJ. This could backfire if Joshua loses to the 6’5″ Hrgovic, who can punch and has a mean rabbit that he throws quite often. He pulls it out of his hat regularly.
If Joshua loses to Hrgovic, Hearn will look like a royal fool in the eyes of fans, but that’s a risk he’s willing to take. Going in the direction of pitting Joshua against Zhang or Jared Anderson would have an even greater risk of AJ losing, and Hearn looking just as bad.
The path of least resistance?
Those guys are better talents than Hrgovic, so Hearn chooses to move Joshua on the path of least resistance by targeting Hrgovic because the only thing he has to worry about going against him is getting hit in the back of the head. . Joshua beats Hrgovic easily as long as he doesn’t get rabbit shot.
Hearn will likely have a quality referee working the fight, who will immediately warn Hrgovic and begin docking points immediately if he persists in throwing rabbit shots. It wouldn’t be surprising if he gets disqualified, giving Joshua an easy win. That is very possible.
Hearn has been moving Joshua carefully throughout his career, and when he has taken risks, he has calculated them in a way that he always expected to win. Even when Joshua lost, it was in fights he was supposed to have won.
They weren’t risky fights on paper. However, Hearn did not consider Joshua to be mentally fragile, that he had low stamina and a weak chin.
For example, Hearn pitted Joshua against Wladimir Klitschko when the Ukrainian star was 39 and showing signs of moving on. Hearn kept Joshua away when Wladimir was younger and still fighting at a high level.
When Hearn did that fight, it was a calculated fight that Joshua had the best chance of winning, and the fight took place in the UK, in London, which increased AJ’s chances of winning.
“In tonight’s performance, you can tell he’s in that conversation,” Eddie Hearn told Boxing News about Anthony Joshua being one of the best in the world after beating Otto Wallin.
“I saw him on the pads in the training room. I hadn’t seen him hit like that in years. I am very happy to see him smile after his performance. It was great,” Hearn said.
Come on, what is Hearn talking about? Joshua has ALWAYS looked good hitting the pads, even before his knockout loss to Andy Ruiz Jr. and his two losses to Oleksandr Usyk.
AJ always looks like a champion hitting the pads, but he falls apart when his opponents respond and accelerate at a pace that forces him to expend energy.
Otto Wallin was so sad that he couldn’t accelerate or hit back because he had no speed, power or talent. Hearn picked him perfectly and there was nothing calculated about this fight. It was a gift from the beginning.
Hearn’s master plan: calculated control and controlled risks
“It will be Hrgovic vs. AJ for the world title. “I’m very happy to see him smiling and performing so well,” Hearn said.
Joshua needs that IBF belt to get the pot of gold against the winner of Fury vs. Usyk. If Joshua defeats Hrgovic to capture the IBF belt, Hearn will look like a genius in the eyes of fans and remind them how he planned it all.
However, if AJ is defeated, Hearn can remain silent that he was the one who came up with the big plan. Instead of taking over, Hearn could credit AJ with a night off.
Execution and confidence
“He got to work and reaped the rewards. Yeah, he went in there and executed the game plan. He was very sure that he would do it. I told him if he went out and did those things it would be a mismatch, and that’s what it was,” AJ’s trainer Ben Davison told Boxing News, reacting to his win over Wallin.
Otto Wallin was someone Joshua could beat even with poor execution, so it’s a bit rich that Davison is trying to take credit for AJ winning by executing the game plan he designed for him.
This is the type of fighter that Joshua beats even at his worst, which is now. He hasn’t improved since he turned pro and is still the same fighter he lost to Andy Ruiz Jr. and Usyk.
AJ’s opposition has gotten much worse lately, with Hearn facing three opponents he trusts: Wallin Robert Helenius and Jermaine Franklin.
“More than anything, there was talk about this being a possible surprise,” Davison said. “A lot of people picked Wallin to beat Joshua. I think the people who chose should feel a little ashamed.
“Professionalism. Very professional. He takes it very seriously and that has been a fantastic addition and an inspiration for the other fighters in the gym to see the level that is needed,” Davison said.
People have no shame in choosing Wallin to beat Joshua because they made obvious decisions given that AJ has gone downhill.
What they didn’t realize was that Wallin appeared to have not trained, with his untoned physique and a slight paunch. This is not the fighter who gave Fury pure problems in 2019. Wallin has aged.
Dreams of redemption
“In boxing, I think every fight is fight by fight. “It’s a pleasure to work with Joshua, but we’ll see,” Davison said about whether he will work with Joshua for his next fight.
“Yes, it’s possible,” Ben said of whether he’d like to see Joshua fight Joseph Parker next. “Being a little selfish, I would like to have the opportunity to fix the fight with Usyk. I don’t know if that’s feasible. I would like to help you do it.”
If Joshua listened to Davison and fought Usyk in a trilogy clash and lost, that would probably be the last fight he trained him in. It’s reasonable to assume Davison would be fired immediately.
“I have a lot of confidence that I could help him correct that. I’m very confident,” Davison said when asked if he was confident Joshua could avenge his two losses to Oleksandr Usyk.
