Eddie Hearn believes that Anthony Joshua will still fight twice this year despite delays to the rematch with Oleksandr Usyk.
Usyk and Joshua fought back in September for the IBF, WBA and WBO belts, and the Ukrainian took the win in a surprising - but dominant - upset victory.
That led to the Briton almost immediately activating his rematch clause and a February date was expected, but that date was moved back with no confirmation, and then Usyk had to return to his homeland to defend the country against the invasion by Russia.
He has since been given permission to leave the country to train for the rematch and a July 23 date has been pencilled in, but any further slippage could conceivably push a further fight into the start of 2023, something that Hearn is keen to avoid.
“AJ’s fighting twice this year,” Hearn told IFL TV. “Any delay can only be a couple of weeks because we want to make sure that he’s good to go in December again.
“July 23rd is still the working date. If there was a delay, it wouldn’t be a major issue for anybody. It’s just time. It’s a huge deal. It has taken a long time as deals do. We’re really happy with our partners. We’re really happy with the deal, and we’re really happy with the process and we look forward to doing a huge event. You’ll be hearing about it very soon.
“We have agreed a deal with the site and working date of July 23rd,” Hearn said. “We are pretty much ready to announce. If there is a delay it’s for no other reason than just time and making sure we can promote the fight in the right way.
“The fight is happening. The fight is agreed as to where it will take place. Both sides have agreed to the deal. Both sides have agreed [to] everything. It’s just probably taken 10 days longer than we wanted it to.”