ANTHONY JOSHUA has been hit with an injury blow – but Eddie Hearn has revealed fresh hope in a fight with Tyson Fury.
Joshua has not fought since his knockout defeat to Daniel Dubois in September and looked set to face Fury this year.
But the Gypsy King, 36, announced his shock retirement in January following two consecutive losses to Oleksandr Usyk, 38.
It has left AJ in the lurch over his next bout but promoter Hearn revealed he has picked up an injury in training.
And he “won’t be able to punch again or train properly for eight to ten weeks” – according to BoxingScene.
But Hearn added: “In my deluded head, Fury comes out retirement at some point in the next few months, and they end up fighting this year.
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“But again, no guarantee. Nothing’s led me to think that. I just think that at some point Tyson Fury is gonna sit there and go, ‘F*** it.’
“It’s the biggest fight to make and it’s not like he’s deteriorating. It’s not like he looked shot against Usyk, he just got beat by the better man.
“So, yeah, I think Dubois and Fury are the two that light the fire, but we’ll see what happens.”
Hearn admitted only Fury and Dubois, 27, will likely motivate Joshua, 35, for his next fight.
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He said: “He’s pretty relaxed, but I’ll be honest, I think the only fights that really get his juices flowing are Dubois and Tyson Fury.
“Doesn’t mean he won’t fight someone else. But he’s beaten Joseph Parker already, although Parker’s on a great run.
“Agit Kabayel is on a great run, but if you’re AJ, can you get yourself up for that? I don’t know.”
Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
