Eddie Hearn believes that Anthony Joshua has no shortage of viable opponents waiting for him in the wings.
Hearn, Joshua’s longtime promoter from London, is keen for his star loadout to follow a busier boxing schedule. Joshua is coming off a hard-fought loss at the hands of WBO, WBA, IBO and IBF champion Oleksandr Usyk in their heavyweight unification rematch last month in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Since the fight, Hearn has insisted that Joshua can easily rebuild his career by fighting more often, and has suggested December or early next year as the next ring date for his heavyweight.
Hearn believes there are a host of attractive options for Joshua that are ranked in the top 15 by governing bodies. However, Hearn made it clear that neither Joshua nor himself are interested in pursuing walkovers, saying potential opponents would have to offer some “element of risk.”
“The last thing AJ wants is a gimme fight,” Hearn said on The DAZN Boxing Show. “We are not interested in giving me fights. There has to be an element of risk. There has to be an element of risk.”
When asked to specify some of the opponents he had in mind for Joshua, Hearn named Dillian Whyte, Filip Hrgovic, Zhilei Zhang and Otto Wallin.
Joshua knocked out countryman Whyte in 2015; Croatia’s Hrgovic beat China’s Zhang in an IBF eliminator last month on the Usyk-Joshua II undercard in a fight that many thought Zhang did enough to earn at least a draw, if not a win; and Wallin, the Swedish contender, made a name for himself in 2019, when he upset Tyson Fury in their 12-round fight before settling for a unanimous points loss.
“Dillian Whyte is not a December fight, but it is a March fight and the summer, 100%,” Hearn said. “It’s a big stadium fight in the UK. You have Filip Hrgovic, who just won. I think it was a bad performance from him. Zhilei Zhang looked good. Otto Wallin also had a close fight with Tyson Fury.”
Hearn’s suggestions would depend entirely on whether or not a proposed fight between Fury and Joshua materializes in the near future. Fury, the WBC champion, recently called Joshua out for an all-British super fight, and the two are now, according to Hearn, involved in preliminary negotiations.
“Dillian Whyte is a very good fight,” Hearn continued. “I want to give Dillian Whyte a fight in November, and then I would like to do the AJ fight, subject to the Tyson Fury stuff.
“These guys have to be active. Talking to Dillian yesterday, he fought in March 2021, and then his next fight was in April 2022… an AJ who fights every three months is going to be a tough guy to beat, once that confidence goes, once the belief in your training gear goes. Originally, the plan was December, February, March, and it could be Dillian Whyte, and then go into a Fury or [Deontay] Wilder fight.
