Matchroom Boxing head-honcho, Eddie Hearn, refused to rule out Tyson Fury as Anthony Joshua’s next opponent.
“He [Fury] wanted an offer,” said the Essex promoter, who admitted discussing a potential 60-40 split with the outspoken giant.
Fury, 30, scored a controversial draw against Alabama’s Deontay Wilder last December and adds to a shortlist of heavyweights positioned to be Joshua’s 23rd professional foe.
During a recent interview with Boxing Social, Fury’s trainer and friend, Ben Davison, was adamant his heavyweight charge deserved an even share of earnings, an opinion Hearn was quick to dismiss.
“I think he needs to see someone urgently for some help if he really believes that, but at the same time, I have a lot of respect for Ben Davison,” continued Hearn.
“I think he’s done a tremendous job [but] I don’t go into gyms and tell people how to throw right hands, so in terms of the boxing business and understanding of the business, he knows about as much I do about how to throw a right hand.”
Reports have suggested loud-mouthed New Yorker Jarrell Miller and London’s Dillian Whyte both rejected initial offers to unify the heavyweight division, holding out for larger paydays.
Anthony Joshua’s next outing was slated for April, but Hearn confessed we may have to wait for the next instalment of his punch-perfect career, he said:
“I think April 13 is starting to look unrealistic. And I think if it is Dillian we’ll move that to May or June. If it’s Jarrell it will be early June at Madison Square Garden.”
“A part of me wants Dillian to take the fight because I want him to have a shot at the world title, but I also think AJ in America, expanding the brand [and] becoming more well known globally is a great move as well. So I think this weekend we will make our decision,” Hearn concluded.