EDDIE HEARN has revealed the three fighters in contention to be Anthony Joshua’s next opponent.
Former two-time unified heavyweight champion Joshua was on course for a lucrative January joust with long-time rival Deontay Wilder before Saudi boxing chiefs withdrew their interest in the fight.
AJ, 34, is now aiming to continue his career rebuild with a third outing of the year in December.
Promoter Eddie Hearn drew up a contingency plan in case the Wilder fight fell through and has revealed that Agit Kabayel, Filip Hrgovic and Otto Wallin are all in the running to be the Watford warrior’s next opponent.
The Matchroom Boxing chief told SecondsOut: “If he’s going to fight someone in December, I’m not saying it’s going to be Charr, but it could be [Agit] Kabayel.
“It could be Hrgovich or Wallin out of this situation to see what happens.
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“It’s not going to be Deontay Wilder, it’s not going to be Andy Ruiz, and it’s not going to be [Zhieli] Zhang. So, you have to look at the top 15. “
Joshua could fight on the undercard of Conor Benn’s family grudge match with Chris Eubank Jr, which SunSport understands is set to land in the Middle East on December 23.
Should a suitable opponent fail to emerge, Team AJ will look to have their man take to the ring after the turn of the New Year.
Hearn said: “We’re more on the date than the opponent. He wants to fight in December.
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“Because, in his head, he said, ‘I wanted to fight three times in the year.’
“I said, ‘Yeah, but you fought in April.’ He said, ‘No, I want to fight three times in 2023.’
“So, he would like to get out in December, and we have to keep a close eye on the 23rd because we don’t know what’s going to happen.
“50-50, but if not December, 100% in January.”
Joshua got back to winning ways in April with a scrappy points victory over Jermaine Franklin at The O2 Arena.
And he got his knockout mojo back in August with a brutal seventh-round stoppage of veteran heavyweight Robert Helenius.
Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
