Despite currently being beltless, Anthony Joshua is still heavily rumored to be in line for some of the biggest fights imaginable in heavyweight boxing. While it was suspected he would be facing Deontay Wilder in the near future, Tony Bellew ― an acquaintance of Joshua ― seems to believe it is instead Tyson Fury that Joshua will meet in the ring before Wilder.
While talks between Anthony Joshua (26-3, 23 KO’s) and Tyson Fury (33-0-1, 24 KO’s) had occurred in the past, the first of their negotiations failed amidst an arbitration case won by Deontay Wilder (43-2-1, 42 KO’s) to have a third match with Fury. The second negotiations [or attempted negotiations] also fell through, but apparently, there are now new talks going on behind the scenes between the two parties with Africa as the next location in mind for a potential heavyweight bout between the two British fighters.
“I’m hearing all kinds of different rumors, and talks have stopped at the minute now,” Tony Bellew revealed during an interview with BitcoinCasinos, released on September 4th.
“They’re [Joshua’s team] looking more towards Fury and AJ [Anthony Joshua], instead of AJ and Wilder.
“I know for a fact that Joshua and Wilder will face each other at some point, and I absolutely think it’d be unbelievable to have. But the talk of another fight going to Africa would just be absolutely amazing. I mean, it would just be like George Foreman and Muhammad Ali part two.“
An interview between The DAZN Boxing Show and Eddie Hearn ― Joshua’s promoter ― was released the next day after Bellew’s own revelation, but Hearn made no mention of any talks between Fury as he was questioned about a potential Joshua-Wilder fight.
“AJ wants to fight in December or January,” Eddie Hearn said during an appearance on The DAZN Boxing Show.
“We know the Wilder’s fight is not going to happen in December or January, so we’re happy to wait till January.
“But if that fight starts being pushed back till February or March, don’t be surprised to see AJ ― still sign for that fight, but have another fight in-between.“
Hearn’s comments seem to directly contradict Bellew’s assumption that Anthony Joshua would fight Tyson Fury in Africa. Not only did Eddie Hearn not mention a fight between the two Brits, but his prediction that Joshua would have an in-between fight would naturally exclude Fury, who is a WBC champion and too skilled of a fighter to be picked as an “in-between” opponent in preparation for a Wilder fight.
There is, however, a chance that Eddie Hearn may not even know of any talks between Joshua and Fury. Joshua currently owns his own sports management company ― 258 Management ― and is entirely within his rights to conduct negotiations for himself. However, the chance of him doing so is slim to none, as he has always allowed his promoter Eddie Hearn and his promotion of Matchroom to conduct negotiations between himself and other fighters.
Only time will tell if either Bellew’s or Hearn’s claims will be proven to be true or false.
