Anthony Joshua’s promoter wants to set up talks with Tyson Fury’s team for Brit blockbuster after Jermaine Franklin bout
EDDIE HEARN wants to kickstart talks for Anthony Joshua to fight Tyson Fury after his return against Jermaine Franklin.
Joshua welcomes Franklin to London for his comeback bout at the O2 Arena on Saturday night.
And he is looking to regain his confidence and bounce back from consecutive defeats to Oleksandr Usyk.
Usyk, 36, was in negotiations to take the WBA, IBF and WBO straps he won against AJ into an undisputed title decider with Fury, 34.
But talks for the division’s first four-belt unification collapsed at the 11th hour amid a disagreement over the financials for a potential rematch.
So with the historic bout all but KO’d promoter Hearn wants to capitalise by instead pitting Joshua against Fury in a British blockbuster.
He told DAZN: “If this fight doesn’t get made, I want to sit down with George Warren and God-willing AJ gets through Jermaine Franklin on April 1, I want to go straight into that fight. AJ against Tyson Fury, why not?
“It’s financially a much bigger fight for Tyson Fury than Oleksandr Usyk.
“It’s the biggest fight in world boxing by a mile. But if the Usyk fight does fall through then I think we should be kicking and screaming for the AJ fight.
“And sometimes things happen that enable fights that you never thought could happen to happen and maybe this is one of those moments.”
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Usyk now looks set to face WBA mandatory challenger Daniel Dubois, 25, following the breakdown in undisputed talks.
Meanwhile, Fury could turn his attention to Britain’s Joe Joyce, 37, who first has to beat China’s Zhilei Zhang, 39, on April 15.
For Joshua, 33, victory is a must in his return against Franklin, 29, as a hat-trick of straight losses could spell the end of his illustrious career.