Eddie Hearn, promoter for former two-time heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua, says the British star’s next fight is still on target for the month of March in Saudi Arabia.
Joshua bounced back in force in 2023.
After suffering back-to-back defeats at the hands of unified world champion Oleksandr Usyk, Joshua picked up three victories last year.
He won a twelve round unanimous decision over Jermaine Franklin in April, knocked out Robert Helenius in August, and then came back to the ring for a third time last month in Saudi Arabia to batter Otto Wallin in five rounds.
Joshua had been slated to face Deontay Wilder on a March date in Saudi Arabia – but the fight was derailed after Wilder suffered an upset decision loss to Joseph Parker on the undercard of Joshua’s bout with Wallin.
Several names are being discussed for the British star’s next fight in Saudi.
Some of the options include unbeaten contender Filip Hrgovic, MMA veteran Francis Ngannou, and Chinese giant Zhilei Zhang.
“Right now, we have three fights that were in discussions for they’re all big,” Hearn told IFL TV. “And that doesn’t involve Deontay Wilder. Before March our aim, and we’ve discussed this, is to fight the winner of Fury versus Usyk. That is all we want to do.
“Obviously there’s a Hrgovic fight out there for the world heavyweight title; there’s a Francis Ngannou fight out there which would be absolutely colossal. There’s other heavyweights as well, the Zhang fight possibly as well with Queensbury.”
Promoter Frank Warren of Queensberry, who is currently the lead promoter for the boxing events in Saudi, had revealed over the weekend that he’s working on a March Saudi card.
Hrgovic is viewed by many as the frontrunner to land Joshua.
Usyk and WBC champion Tyson Fury are scheduled to collide in an undisputed fight on February 17 in Saudi Arabia.
There is a contracted two-way rematch, and the IBF title is expected to become vacant in the aftermath of the first Fury-Usyk encounter. Hrgovic is the IBF’s mandatory challenger. A fight between him and Joshua, for the vacant IBF belt, has emerged as a very real possibility.
Credit: Boxing Scene