Anthony Joshua: The “Money” Heavyweight With Tough Choices Ahead

Promoter Eddie Hearn says the recently knocked out Anthony Joshua “is still the money heavyweight in the division” and has his pick of the litter of whoever he wants to fight. The options for Joshua (28-4, 25 KOs) regarding winnable fights for him are slim.

Frozen Star

AJ is the “money” guy at heavyweight but has already gone through the supernova stage and is now a frozen star. It’s a one-way process. Joshua cannot reignite to become a star again because he’s used up his nuclear fuel. He exists in body only, a spent force. Hearn knows that the current top heavyweights are too good for AJ. Choosing the right opponent to keep Joshua going is almost impossible. 

Hearn states that Joshua, 35, will be fighting twice this year, starting in June, and these are the options:

– Tyson Fury: Unlikely
– Daniel Dubois vs. Joseph Parker winner
– Martin Bakole
– Deontay Wilder

Fury is the prize of the litter that Hearn hopes will come out of retirement to take the fight with Joshua, but he says that would happen in the next two weeks. It’s all pretty forlorn. AJ has to decide on his next fight in June. It’s not looking good for Fury to resume his career unless Turki Alashikh offers him untold riches to come back. I don’t think that he will this time because Fury looked something awful in his rematch against Oleksandr Usyk last December.

The way Hearn’s eyes lit up when he mentioned the possibility of Parker defeating IBF champion Dubois this Saturday night in Riyadh, it’s clear that’s the guy he wants for Joshua. He’s so easy to read. AJ’s best chance of beating one of Hearn’s options would be against Parker because he’s skittish nowadays, afraid to focus on his power game after his loss to Joe Joyce.

Just for Money

“To the disappointment of many, AJ is still the money of the heavyweight division, and we can fight whoever we want,” said Eddie Hearn to Ariel Helwani about Anthony Joshua being the fighter that brings in more money than the other heavyweights. “AJ has two or three [fights left].”