Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn has confirmed that the fight he wants to see in the sport this year is Anthony Joshua v Deontay Wilder. Speaking to The Sportsman at the Scott Quigg v Jono Carroll press conference Hearn billed that potential unification bout as a truly historic event.
“I think Joshua v Wilder, that is the natural fight. It is the biggest fight in the sport. So we will see who wins first [in Wilder vs Tyson Fury] but I think the Wilder Joshua fight will go down worldwide as one of the biggest fights of all-time.”
The American will first have to get past another Brit in Tyson Fury, after their first fight ended in a controversial draw in 2018. The rematch on February 22 is one the whole of the boxing world will be watching, with round 12 of the first fight winning Ring magazine’s Round of the Year award that year. Fury has repeatedly claimed he is going to knock out his opponent in the build-up after the judges’ decision went against him last time out but Hearn isn’t convinced by these claims.
“Well, Fury’s never really knocked anyone out. But I think maybe he does have to be more aggressive in this fight and I think Wilder has to be more aggressive. They didn’t do a lot in the last fight until the twelfth round let’s hope they carry on where they left off. I think Fury is the favourite in that fight.
“[AJ] has got to try and fight the winner and that is a natural fight for the sport so we will see who wins, and then AJ will be lining up to fight them.”
Joshua’s next fight is likely to be against Bulgarian Kubrat Pulev in London, but there are a whole host of stadiums willing to host what will mark AJ’s homecoming after two fights on the road. Hearn has confirmed he is in talks with several stadiums in the capital.
“Wembley’s not available so that’s out of the running. We’re talking to Spurs, we are talking to Emirates, we are talking to Twickenham, talking to the Olympic Stadium. Pulev wants to fight in the city where there is the most money, which is not London, but AJ wants to fight in London so we will see where it goes.”
Hearn confirmed in a Twitter Q&A this week that he has been trying to get EA Sports to release a brand new boxing game for 2020. The last boxing game they released was back in 2011, one of the famous and much-loved instalments of the Fight Night series, which fans would love to see return.
“It’s something we have been looking at for a long time. I reached out to EA Sports. I know through responses on trends on numbers, that when I mention a boxing game my social media goes crazy. I mean, you’re not talking about a handle that has a thousand followers, I have two million followers across my social channels and they are dying for a fight game.
"Maybe I just have to create it myself, I don’t know but I need a software company to come out and get behind it but EA Sports really with Fight Night, it’s an obvious move. It would do really well, but it seems to be falling on deaf ears at the moment.”
