ANTHONY JOSHUA’S promoter Eddie Hearn has claimed he is lining up a world tour for the heavyweight in the hope he rediscovers his love for boxing.
The Matchroom chief has stated he plans for AJ to fight in multiple continents following back-to-back defeats against Oleksandr Usyk.
With no constraints on who he can or can’t pit his wits against after losing his world titles, Hearn aims for Joshua to rebuild himself in a number of countries.
Joshua, 32, has fought just three times outside of the United Kingdom since turning professional in 2013.
He was knocked out by Andy Ruiz on US soil in June 2019, before winning back the WBA, WBO and IBF titles in Saudi Arabia six months later.
And after two successive fights in England, Joshua was then outpointed by Usyk earlier this month in the Gulf country.
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Speaking on iFL TV, Hearn spoke of all the things that Joshua can do now that he no longer holds any world titles.
He said: “The amount of times we had mandatories put on us and not being able to make fights we wanted to make or the dates we wanted to make.
“And now that’s the most exciting thing about moving forward, now he can be in charge of his own career, his own destiny.
“We can fight who we want, where we want, when we want. Be as active as we want, whilst building up to get AJ a shot at the heavyweight title again.
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“And that should be the most exciting thing for his career now, a chance to actually be active and build a schedule.
“I want to build a world tour. I want to see AJ fight in London, in Beijing, in Australia, in the Middle East, in America.
“And it’s going to be a lot of fun. I think he’s really going to fall in love with the sport again.”
Hearn was then pressed on who he would like Joshua to face soon, where he stated he would love a rematch with Dillian Whyte following their December 2015 epic.
AJ knocked out his British compatriot in the seventh round with a huge uppercut after being rocked by a left hook from the Body Snatcher earlier in the fight.
He remarked: “The fight that I want, the fight that he wants, is Dillian Whyte.
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“It’s not going to happen [in his first fight back] in December, but it’s a massive stadium fight next year.
“The first one was epic, the second one will be even better.”
Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
