Eddie Hearn has revealed exactly what Anthony Joshua said to him after Oleksandr Usyk defeated Tyson Fury to become the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world.
‘AJ’ accompanied his promoter to the much-anticipated clash at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and shared his views with Hearn on which of his rivals deserved to get the decision after 12 rounds of pulsating action.
Eddie Hearn Reveals Exactly What Anthony Joshua Said to Him After Fury vs Usyk
Joshua didn’t think there was any controversy over the judges’ scorecards on the night
In a recent interview, Hearn told BoxNation “I went over to him [Joshua] after the fight and I said, “What do you think? Who’s got it?”. Joshua couldn’t have been emphatic in his response.
“I was like ‘a lot of people felt like that’. I had him winning, but narrowly.” Despite losing twice to the Ukrainian, Joshua has made no secret of the fact that he would love another crack at ‘The Cat’. That trilogy fight may have to wait, though, as Usyk is expected to meet Fury in a rematch of Saturday’s clash. A second fight between the pair was included as a part of the contract for their first bout.
Usyk was given the nod on the scorecards by the slimmest of margins. Manuel Oliver Palermo of Spain, Craig Metcalfe of Canada and Mike Fitzgerald of the United States were the men that mattered at ringside. Metcalfe gave the contest to Fury, but Palermo and Fitzgerald agreed with Joshua and sided with Usyk. As a result, the former undisputed cruiserweight champion is now the only man to hold all of the heavyweight gold in the four-era.
However, Joshua may not have to wait until Fury and Usyk have settled their differences in order to get his hands on a third world heavyweight title. The Watford-born slugger is expected to fight for the IBF heavyweight title – which Usyk is likely to be stripped of in the next few days. The Londoner is set to face the winner of the upcoming fight between Daniel Dubois and Filip Hrgovic for the vacant crown.
Dubois and Hrgovic will do battle on the 1st of June, with the victor in line to meet Joshua at Wembley Stadium in mid-September. Just a few weeks after that show, Fury and Usyk have been pencilled in for their rematch in Saudi Arabia.
Joshua may have tasted defeat at the hands of Usyk on a couple of occasions, but has reeled off four straight wins since losing to the Ukrainian for a second time in August 2022. The 34-year-old was at his clinical best when knocking out Francis Ngannou in his most recent outing. Joshua remains one of the most dangerous heavyweights on the planet and would love to avenge two of his biggest career setbacks.
