Promoter Eddie Hearn says Matchroom has no one to fill Anthony Joshua’s shoes once he retires from the sport. He suspects that no one will come for the next four to five years, who can duplicate what 2012 Olympic gold medalist Joshua (28-4, 25 KOs) has done since he signed 11 years ago.
(Credit: Mark Robinson / Matchroom Boxing)
Hearn feels that AJ will continue to wrestle for at least another year for two or three fights, and then they will go from there. Those fights are all expected to be big against Tyson Fury twice and possibly a rematch against Daniel Dubois.
Joshua began his career with Matchroom in 2013, knocking out his first 14 opponents in three rounds, which got the British boxing public excited for him.
He didn’t do well in the 2012 London Olympics, winning several fights by a controversial decision that people outside of the UK saw as Joshua being gifted because of the struggles he had in England.
If the Olympics had been held in a neutral country, some believe that Joshua would not have won a medal. He would have lost with Italy’s Roberto Cammarelle, Cuba’s Erislandy Savon, Kazakhstan’s Ivan Dychko and China’s Zhilei Zhang. I watched all those fights, and I thought Joshua should have lost all four.
In the pros, Hearn has done a job of captaining Joshua against the right kind of opponents to make him look great. It wasn’t until he fought Wladimir Klitschko that fans began to recognize that he wasn’t as good as he was led to believe.
“Financially, we make a lot of money, and AJ fights, every time he fights, we do well, but compared to the total income, especially the total income of boxing, it’s a pretty small part, really,” he said Eddie Hearn at secondsout when he was asked if he would make Matchroom financially if Anthony Joshua retires.
“It’s the nature and the stature of the man and the profile of the events. Financially, it doesn’t make a difference for us, but personally, it makes a difference for us because it’s been an incredible journey, and also for the fans of British wrestling, makes a big difference.
“So, he definitely won’t retire yet. I think you’ll see him for at least another year, which is two or three fights, and then we’ll see. But the next decision will be very important. I don’t think anyone will ever honestly fill his shoes,” Hearn said when asked who in his Matchroom Boxing stable will fill Joshua’s shoes.
Joshua can retire if he is defeated first in his next fight, either against Daniel Dubois or Tyson Fury. If Joshua is stopped in the first three rounds, he will probably hang up his gloves instead of continuing to be embarrassed.
“When I say that, people will say: ‘Ah, there are better fighters’. Yes, maybe, but commercially, no one will be able to do what Anthony Joshua has done for boxing, certainly not in the next four to five years, ” Hearn said.
Anyone could eclipse Joshua in the trade in five years, but it will be difficult to do because many fighters tend to quit after making a lot of money. Joshua didn’t do that.
Also, fighters don’t compete often enough when they start bringing in the dough, and they can’t increase their commercial status by fighting only once a year. Either they don’t understand that, or they are just lazy once they get a lot of money. Joshua is no slouch, but he was also well matched by Hearn to maintain protection.
“There is no one in boxing at the moment who can even come close to being commercially the size of Anthony Joshua. I hope there will be more, but he is unique for sure,” said Hearn.
Fans in the United Kingdom are in boxing much more than they are in the United States and in many other countries. Joshua would never have been the same kind of star in the States coming out of the 2012 Olympics as he was in the United Kingdom, because he would have had to fight better opposition.
American fans wouldn’t have noticed Joshua if he was faced with the tomato cans that Hearn put him through during his first 14 fights. Also, they didn’t make a big deal about Joshua beating Wladimir Klitschko, 41, like the British public, because they would have seen that Wlad was old.
