Following the collapse of the eagerly-anticipated Anthony Joshua vs. Tyson Fury fight, which appeared so close, speculation has been rife in the heavyweight division on what Joshua does next.
Fury has been forced into a WBC title defence against Deontay Wilder and although Joshua has been tipped to face WBO mandatory, Oleksandr Usyk, Eddie Hearn has admitted that there are other options.
With the Ukranian eager to test himself against Joshua, it appears the straightforward fight to make but with a long list of contenders desperate to face one of boxing’s biggest names, Hearn has a dilemma in selecting his man’s next opponent.
“Andy Ruiz, he Instagrammed me,” stated Hearn when asked by Kugan Cassius for IFL TV on what options Joshua has outside of Usyk. “That’s a fight that I think we’d be interested in. If you’re going to America, Luis Ortiz is another guy you could fight. If you’re doing the U.K., Dillian Whyte, is that the fight to make?
“In an ideal world, if there’s good business to be made with Oleksandr Usyk then that’s the fight next. I wouldn’t rule out any scenario at the moment for Anthony Joshua.”
With plans to face Fury now scuppered and Hearn searching for an alternative opponent for his heavyweight champion, the Matchroom head has admitted that the situation him and Joshua now found themselves in has caused some unrest.
“There was a lot of anger from everybody last week. Me, “AJ,” just that these people, I can’t believe these people. He (Joshua) felt all along that they didn’t want the fight. I felt differently. I didn’t feel it about their team but I felt that Fury wanted the fight. Maybe he didn’t. Certain people didn’t want this fight and they’ve got their way for now.”
If Ruiz, who shockingly dethroned Joshua in 2019 only to lose the belts back to the champ in their rematch six months later, were to be chosen as next for the Londoner it would mean both Joshua and Fury would be taking care of some trilogy business before, presumably, attempting to finally have their megafight after that.