By: Hans Themistode
Most of the boxing world has been fixated on how a Tyson Fury vs Anthony Joshua showdown would play out. Most of that is due to the fact that both men have come out and expressed their interest in making their fight a reality.
But while fans and observers are split down the middle on who would actually win, promoter Eddie Hearn cringes whenever he hears a contest between the two discussed. It may be a great fight on paper, but there are way too many roadblocks in the way to have any serious discussions just yet.
“I’ve been talking to Bob Arum about various things such as Crawford against Brook which looks close to happening as well,” said Hearn to Sky Sports. “We want to talk about it but we also want to take care of business which Kubrat Pulev for AJ and Deontay Wilder for Tyson Fury.”
As mentioned by Hearn, one bad night at the office is all it will take to derail one of the biggest fights in recent heavyweight history.
For Fury, although he’s beaten Wilder before, the former heavyweight champion is reportedly in “tremendous” shape and looks forward to decapitating the British champion this time around. Joshua on the other hand, may have a seemingly easier opponent in front of him in Kubrat Pulev, but with eight straight victories under his belt, coupled with Joshua’s most recent loss against Andy Ruiz Jr. in mid 2019, the 6 ‘6 chiseled unified champion is believed to be vulnerable.
Still, even with Wilder possessing the sort of power that could leave a fighter in a vegetative state and Pulev in the best form of his life, Hearn believes both Fury and Joshua will get through their preliminary matchups and meet twice next year.
“I’m very sure you are going to see two versions of that fight in 2021. I think we are on the verge of papering that deal with Bob Arum. We haven’t done it yet but all of the conversations have been positive. In 2021 I’m very sure we are going to see those two fights.”
The road isn’t exactly easy for either man, but it’s a clear one, at least for Fury. The current WBC and Lineal titlist simply needs to get past one more opponent in Wilder before he can attempt to unify the division. Yet for WBA/IBF and WBO titlist Anthony Joshua, his road to a mega showdown with his rival has a few more landmines.
Provided Joshua gets past Pulev, standing in between him and the matchup he wants against Fury could be WBO mandatory challenger Oleksandr Usyk. The former undisputed cruiserweight champion is set to take on heavyweight contender Dereck Chisora later on this year.
At no point has Usyk ever expressed a desire to take a backseat in order to let someone else take his world title opportunity, and nothing has changed in that regard.
“For sure, he’s not stepping aside. He wants to fight the winner of Joshua vs Pulev for the WBO world title. Usyk believes he can go out and get a good win under his belt in the heavyweight division and then move on to challenge for a world title in 2021.”