Sean Crose
“If we sign Wilder, I don’t expect AJ to fight the top three or four,” Eddie Hearn said, referring to former world heavyweight Anthony Joshua in a recent interview with Resist the hype. “I think he’s going to play top 10, top 15 again and brace himself for a fight with Deontay Wilder.” When interviewer Marcos Villegas pointed out there would be more “grief” heading into such a strategy of his, Matchroom’s praise was blunt. “Who cares about grief?” he asked eloquently. “When you have achieved what he (Joshua) has achieved, who cares? You want to receive grief. What? From some guy on Twitter?”
Hearn went on to make it clear that 33-year-old Joshua, who has been a heavyweight boxer not once but twice, should essentially be evidence of criticism when it comes to his next opponent selection. “When you’re a two-time world heavyweight champion, when you win an Olympic gold medal, when you make hundreds of millions, when you change your life, when you change people’s lives,” Hearn said. around you, once you’ve changed the lives of your family, are you really at the point in your career when you want to worry about being criticized for joining a war you feel is the right development for a war a few months later? One of the biggest fights in the sport and one of the biggest in heavyweight history? Damn everyone.
Though towering British boxer Joshua hasn’t looked good in recent bouts, Hearn argues it’s all about the emerging victory. “All he cares about is winning,” Hearn said. “If he goes up against Deontay Wilder and knocks him out in twelve rounds, who cares? That’s where he is in his career right now. Fair enough, though even Hearn made it clear that he doesn’t think that’s how things will turn out, if the Joshua-Wilder fight, which is being talked about, becomes a reality. Hearn said of Joshua: “He’s not going to go up against Wilder and just try to outdo him. He will go in and try to knock him down. Taking down the likes of Wilder would do wonders for Joshua’s career, but Hearn is right in arguing that the main goal is to win in the ring no matter what. “You can’t worry about criticism,” he repeated to Villegas.
