ANTHONY JOSHUA isn’t contemplating stepping aside and allowing Tyson Fury to face Oleksandr Usyk.
Joshua, 32, hinted last week that he’d be open to allowing the WBC Gypsy King to face his conqueror in an undisputed heavyweight title fight next year.
But promoter Eddie Hearn insists the former unified heavyweight champion is still hellbent on settling the score with the slick southpaw.
The Matchroom Boxing chief said: “I don’t think that’s a consideration.
“I think at some point if an offer was presented to someone that would be a situation where it would be difficult to not discuss Joshua stepping aside.
“At the moment, the only focus is on the rematch. Anthony Joshua wants to fight Oleksandr Usyk.
Until that is presented to him, and it hasn’t been presented to him in terms of stepping aside, that’s all the focus is.”
“I haven’t seen the interview, but speaking to him, all he wants to do is rematch Oleksandr Usyk.”
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Joshua suffered a lopsided points defeat to the undefeated Ukrainian in their September showdown at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
And the defeat – which scuppered a multi-million-pound Battle of Britain with Fury – still weighs heavy on his mind.
He told iFL TV: “A lot of times I wake up in the morning and the fight and fighting is on my mind. After the fight, you sleep on it.
“You sleep on it after the fight and then what happens is you wake up on it and I’m waking up on it and it’s the right thing because you’ve got to use it as fuel for the day.
“I think about it a lot and not just on a physical thing but up here as well. I think about it a lot.”
“That one made me think a lot and I could go on but I just care, I actually care.
“I don’t think, ‘Eh, it’s a loss’. I actually deeply care.”
Joshua is hellbent on exacting revenge on the former undisputed cruiserweight champ, saying: “I’m done with f***ing losing, I’m done with trying to learn the sweet science.
“The referee might get thrown on the floor in the next fight because this is war.
“It’s just straight war, I’m annoyed.
“I’m boiling up even speaking about it – it’s that passion to win.”
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Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
