Anthony Joshua’s future fight plans may be a case of heart versus head, as his promoter, Eddie Hearn, said he needs another fight before facing the division’s elite.
The two-time world heavyweight champion returned to winning ways against Jermaine Franklin recently, but analysts felt another fight under new coach, Derrick James, was smart before he goes gunning for the top dogs.
Despite this, Joshua announced that he wouldn’t be fighting in July as planned, instead signing straight up for a bout in December.
It’s certainly not a decision made from a tactical point of view, as Hearn told DAZN just days ago that ‘AJ’ needed to step up to the plate slowly.
“You’re better off being honest and saying look, this is where we’re at.
I need him to have another fight with a level slightly above Jermaine Franklin to gel with Derrick James, hopefully go in there with a little bit more confidence to prepare him for Fury or Wilder in December.”
There’s speculation as to why this decision has been made – although Hearn did say that it wasn’t concrete – and that includes trainer commitments, injury or the promise of a big-money bout being too good to risk injury or defeat.
What Hearn said afterwards may provide the biggest hint.
“We’re not ruling that out [Fury and Wilder]. We’ll look at those. If a big offer comes in or a big site comes in – unlikely in July – but I just really want to see momentum.”
Whether or not the big site offer has come in for the winter remains to be seen, but it’s hard to believe at this stage given that the heavyweight division has so many moving parts.
Deontay Wilder is entering ‘pre-camp’ just now so is unlikely to wait around until then, and Tyson Fury is without an opponent but will likely still be angling for an undisputed bout against Oleksandr Usyk towards the end of the year.