Promoter Eddie Hearn insists a rematch with Daniel Dubois is the “#1 priority” for Anthony Joshua. He can easily make it happen by telling His Excellency Turki Alalshikh that this is the fight they want. It’s pretty obvious that there won’t be a rematch.
(Credit: Mark Robinson / Matchroom Boxing)
Hearn is so transparent in his speech that he doesn’t want to come right out and say it, because the backlash will be severe. It will be an absolute understatement if Joshua doesn’t get the rematch with Dubois, but if he does, all the money from the Fury fight goes out the window.
Hearn and Joshua still have one fight left on the Riyadh Season deal, and they likely want to maximize it by making the mega-money clash against Fury.
A Dubois rematch doesn’t bring the kind of gold bullion that a match against Fury does, and it doesn’t matter if Usyk beats him. It’s always a bigger fight. If this is all that is left for Joshua with His Excellency, of course, Hearn will get the maximum amount of money by insisting on the Fury match.
“I told him yesterday, ‘You’ve got one and three fights left.’ The phone went a little quiet when I said it, but that’s the realization of where he is in his career. It’s just going to be the biggest fight possible Eddie Hearn told Boxing news about his conversation with Anthony Joshua after his loss to Daniel Dubois.
Joshua talks about having “Loads” of years left in his career, so Hearn tells him that he only has one to three fights that probably haven’t gone well.
“AJ will want the biggest fights. He’s a fighter. His #1 priority is to rematch Daniel Dubois. If we go to His Excellency and say: ‘We want the rematch’. This fight will happen, but we still have options in our arrangement. The rematch is one of our choices with His Excellency,” Hearn said.
They’re not going to rematch Dubois in a million years. Even if there wasn’t a Fury, Hearn isn’t crazy enough to pull the trigger on a rematch and watch Joshua get devoured by the apex predator Dubois. Joshua is not built to compete against this type of monster.
“I believe that if it was the choice we had to make, I saw Daniel last night; it is certainly a fight that is discussed. But we have to talk with AJ to discuss possible times for his return. December 21st (Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk 2) is a big moment for us and a big moment for the heavyweight division. It’s just a case of making a decision before that fight,” Hearn said.
