Eddie Hearn has revealed how many tickets Anthony Joshua has sold for his comeback fight against Jermaine Franklin next month.
There has been heavy speculation surrounding the commercial success thus far for the bout on April 1st, with fans sharing screenshots of large swathes of seats at the 02 Arena in London still showing as up for sale.
When pressed on the matter by ESBR Boxing, Hearn admitted there were still plenty of tickets left, but that he expects the London venue to be at full capacity on the night.
“It’s difficult times. We’ve sold 14,000 tickets at the 02, we’ve got a couple of thousand left – which will all go. The fighters get their tickets this week, so there aren’t going to be many left.”
“But he needs to make a statement and he needs to get people excited about Anthony Joshua again.”
“We all love him, the country loves, but do they believe in him as a top heavyweight? April 1st, we will see.”
Failing to quickly sell out the 02 will no doubt be a shock to the system for ‘AJ,’ having packed out Wembley Stadium and the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff during his career.
Some believe the decline in his popularity stems all the way back to his loss to Andy Ruiz Jr at Madison Square Garden in 2019, and was then amplified by two defeats in a row to Oleskandr Usyk.
Next month’s meeting with Franklin is without question crucial for Joshua, as defeat would almost certainly spell an end to any ambitions he may have of becoming a three time world heavyweight champion.
The American gave a good account of himself in defeat to Dillian Whyte last November, so Joshua can ill afford to lose focus as he prepares for ‘The 989 Assassin.’