Eddie Hearn admits Anthony Joshua is facing a logjam of mandatories and may need to vacate a belt before he ever gets a much-anticipated unification fight against Deontay Wilder.
The Brit holds the IBF, WBA and WBO heavyweight titles, while Wilder has been the WBC champion since 2015, though a deal to face off looks as far away as ever after the Bronze Bomber rejected DAZNs $100m offer.
In the meantime, Joshua will take on Jarrell Miller at Madison Square Garden on June 1, and promoter Hearn expects it to be the first of a very crammed schedule.
We dont want to vacate one of the titles because we want the undisputed fight, Hearn told iFL TV in an exhaustive interview.
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I mean, dont get me wrong, if a title was vacated, wed still fight Wilder – but it wouldnt be the undisputed fight. Thats the golden chalice. So thats why we want it to happen in November, December.
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Asked what mandatories Joshua is facing, Hearn continued: WBO with [Oleksandr] Usyk, IBF with [Kubrat] Pulev is after the WBO mandatory [so next year], and then there would be a WBA mandatory, which is not set yet.
So he [Joshua] is going to have a logjam of mandatories. So after Miller, hes either going to fight Wilder or another fight or, more likely, Usyk.
If he fights the undisputed fight then hes got to fight Usyk after. Then hes got to fight Pulev as another mandatory after that. And then hes got to fight the WBA one.
So thaRead More – Source
Eddie Hearn admits Anthony Joshua is facing a logjam of mandatories and may need to vacate a belt before he ever gets a much-anticipated unification fight against Deontay Wilder.
The Brit holds the IBF, WBA and WBO heavyweight titles, while Wilder has been the WBC champion since 2015, though a deal to face off looks as far away as ever after the Bronze Bomber rejected DAZNs $100m offer.
In the meantime, Joshua will take on Jarrell Miller at Madison Square Garden on June 1, and promoter Hearn expects it to be the first of a very crammed schedule.
We dont want to vacate one of the titles because we want the undisputed fight, Hearn told iFL TV in an exhaustive interview.
Advertisement
Advertisement
I mean, dont get me wrong, if a title was vacated, wed still fight Wilder – but it wouldnt be the undisputed fight. Thats the golden chalice. So thats why we want it to happen in November, December.
More: Boxing
Asked what mandatories Joshua is facing, Hearn continued: WBO with [Oleksandr] Usyk, IBF with [Kubrat] Pulev is after the WBO mandatory [so next year], and then there would be a WBA mandatory, which is not set yet.
So he [Joshua] is going to have a logjam of mandatories. So after Miller, hes either going to fight Wilder or another fight or, more likely, Usyk.
If he fights the undisputed fight then hes got to fight Usyk after. Then hes got to fight Pulev as another mandatory after that. And then hes got to fight the WBA one.
So thaRead More – Source
