December 22nd 2024.
After Tyson Fury's second loss to Oleksandr Usyk in Saudi Arabia, there are now doubts about his future in the boxing world. In fact, Eddie Hearn believes that the only logical next opponent for Fury is none other than Anthony Joshua himself, following his defeat to Dubois on Saturday night.
The judges unanimously scored the fight 116-112 in favor of Usyk, marking Fury's second career loss. And it seems that Usyk may have a potential future opponent in Daniel Dubois, who took the IBF world heavyweight title from Joshua back in September. Dubois is set to face Joseph Parker on February 22, and if he wins, a match against Usyk may be on the horizon for next year.
As for Joshua, his next opponent is still up in the air after his loss to Dubois. But Hearn believes that Fury's defeat to Usyk has opened the doors for a highly anticipated fight between Joshua and Fury at Wembley in 2025. "It's probably the biggest fight in the history of British boxing, and everyone will be clamoring to see it," Hearn said in an interview with DAZN following Fury's loss.
But Hearn also noted that Fury's loss does not mean he is finished as a fighter. In fact, he believes that Fury is still at the peak of his abilities, but just wasn't able to overcome Usyk on this particular night. "It wasn't a flat or poor performance from Fury, and his punch resistance was not in question like we had discussed before," Hearn said. "He just wasn't good enough to beat Usyk tonight."
Meanwhile, Joshua is also looking to bounce back after his loss to Dubois in September. But for Hearn, the main focus is on the potential match between Joshua and Fury at Wembley. "That's the one everyone wants to see," he said. "I'll be pushing [Turki Alalshikh] to make this fight happen, but that's a discussion for another day. Tonight is all about Oleksandr Usyk."
Hearn also acknowledged that Fury will have a tough time dealing with this loss, as all fighters do after experiencing defeat. "It's a tough pill to swallow for any winner when they lose," he said. "And AJ struggled with his loss to Usyk as well. These guys are competitors and when they get beat, it hurts. And I'm sure it will hurt Fury as well."
When asked if this loss will be even harder for Fury, considering it's his second loss to Usyk, Hearn replied, "Yes, because it's frustrating. You saw AJ's reaction after his second loss to Usyk. He trained so hard for that fight, and put his heart and soul into it. And Fury also made sacrifices in his training camp, just like AJ. So it's understandable that he may be feeling frustrated, wondering why he couldn't beat Usyk despite doing everything right. These guys are winners, and it's tough for them to accept defeat."
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