Hearn confident we’ll see Fury-Joshua twice in 2021
The promoter is hoping to get a deal done relatively soon.
Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn tells Sky Sports that he’s “very sure” we’ll be seeing an undisputed heavyweight championship clash between Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua in 2021 — two of them, in fact.
Hearn, who promotes WBA/IBF/WBO titleholder Joshua, says he’s been speaking with Fury co-promoter Bob Arum, saying that everyone involved really wants to get the deal done, and that he is expecting to get a deal done at some point:
“I’m very sure you’re going to see two versions of that fight in 2021. I think we’re on the verge now of papering that deal with Bob Arum. We haven’t done it yet, but all the conversations are positive. We have a lot on our plates with the pandemic, making sure we keep boxing alive and trying to deliver those fights for AJ and Fury, but I think 2021, I’m very sure you’ll see those two fights.”
Of course, we have to note the same things every time this story makes another headline:
- Fury owes Deontay Wilder a third fight, which organizers are currently hoping (stress that part) to make happen on Dec. 19.
- Joshua has an IBF mandatory defense to make against Kubrat Pulev, which is tentatively slated for Dec. 12.
- Oleksandr Usyk will be owed a WBO mandatory shot, at least as currently stands, and has repeatedly said there is no way he’s stepping aside.
On that last one, Hearn rightly notes that Usyk has a fight with Derek Chisora coming, which is close to done for Oct. 31. Fury nearly had to deal with a Dillian Whyte mandatory in early 2021, too, but Whyte lost to Alexander Povetkin in August, and those two will rematch on Nov. 21. That will be a WBC eliminator, effectively, but Fury won’t have to make that defense in 2021, either, which is kind of particularly crap news for Povetkin if he wins, since he’s already 41 years old.
Fury-Joshua certainly could happen twice in 2021, but I’d still say the odds are against it. Even if Fury and Joshua do both get out in December — which is far from any guarantee, mind you, let alone that they both also win — to take care of numbers one and two up there, Joshua would then have to potentially face Usyk first, and what’s the earliest you could really see that happening after December? April? And then to prepare for Fury, what’s the earliest there, August or September? And then again by the end of 2021?
Yeah, unlikely. BUT! The key is to get one in, then go from there. If we get one in in the fall of 2021 and then can get them back out again in 2022 for a rematch, that should sit relatively fine with everyone.
If they both keep winning, of course.