Hearn opens door to Joshua vs Fury with ‘basis of deal’ completed

I still feel fresh and young – Anthony Joshua ready for Jermaine Franklin fight

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Eddie Hearn is open to making Anthony Joshua vs Tyson Fury next provided AJ beats Jermaine Franklin on April 1. The Matchroom Boxing chief claims the fight can be easily made with the ‘basis of the deal’ already in place from previous negotiations.

Joshua and Fury have been in serious discussions on multiple occasions but have failed to get the long-awaited all-British showdown over the line. The closest they came was back in 2021, when the pair held all four major sanctioning body belts between them.

Both men signed a two-fight deal in August of that year, starting with a showdown in Saudi Arabia. However, as soon as the fight was officially announced a judge in a US court ruled that Deontay Wilder was entitled to exercise his option for a third fight with Fury. Joshua was then ordered to face WBO mandatory Oleksandr Usyk and the rest is history.

Most recently, both parties were unable to trash out a deal for December 3 shortly after Joshua’s second defeat to Usyk. As a result, Fury declared he would never entertain a match-up with AJ again.

But Hearn remains optimistic that the fight will happen, especially given recent reports that the four-belt shootout between Fury and Usyk is looking ‘unlikely’ for the springtime. When asked who he would like to see Joshua face after his comeback fight against Franklin next month, Hearn told the Betfred Lightweight Boxing Show: “Tyson Fury. Make the AJ vs Fury fight and we’ll make it now. I’ve said to George Warren that we’ve got the basis of the deal that we had last time, let’s progress with that and let’s get the deal done.

“One of the reasons we’re not seeing Usyk vs Fury is because there’s not that much money in it. It’s not as big a fight as people think. AJ vs Fury, there’s fortunes in that fight. Let’s get it on. I know what Tyson Fury wants and that’s money and he wants as much money as possible.

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“It’s not rocket science and I don’t blame him. If you want to become undisputed, then it’s 50-50 as one guy has three belts and the other has one, and yes, I know you’re the bigger draw but who cares?

“Do you want it or not? The answer is not really. If Usyk really isn’t that good and he’s just a little middleweight, then would you not take £60, £70, £80 million to become undisputed? What’s the game become?”

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