EDDIE HEARN warned not to rule out Tyson Fury fighting Anthony Joshua INSTEAD of Oleksandr Usyk.
Fury, who returns against Derek Chisora on December 3, is already in talks for a historic undisputed super-fight with Usyk next year.
But he said it would be a “dying travesty” if he never fought AJ and admitted he could not retire without fighting him.
Although in trademark style, Fury made a U-turn and claimed he had no interest in facing Joshua, who he called a “coward”.
Hearn was quick to point out the contradiction and believes the pair of heavyweights can still fight, possibly sooner than most think.
He told iFL TV: “Two or three days ago, he said he couldn’t retire unless he fought AJ, and he needs that fight badly.
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“You’re seeing now from the social media responses people are starting to come to terms with it doesn’t make sense what he’s saying.
“Let him go on. Maybe he fights AJ instead of Usyk? I wouldn’t even be surprised.
“That fight is so big with AJ that sometimes you just get together, and you make the fight instantly.
“I think Fury wants legacy, and he knows the AJ fight is legacy because it’s the biggest fight of all time.
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“And despite him maybe saying that he doesn’t rate Anthony Joshua, he does, and he knows it’s a real fight and we have to see that fight.
“But you’ve also got the Usyk fight. You have Chisora coming up. We’ll see what happens.”
Fury, 34, faces Chisora, 38, the man he beat in 2011 and 2014 in a trilogy bout after talks with AJ collapsed.
Joshua, 33, is instead set to return next year following a break after two straight points losses to Usyk, 35.
The Ukrainian is also ruled out until next year but negotiations for a first four-belt heavyweight unification in Saudi Arabia is already underway.
It leaves AJ frozen out of the title picture for now, but Hearn wants to see the two-time champion in a hat-trick of bouts in 2023.
He said: “For me, AJ should be fighting three times a year every year.
“But, because of his commercial responsibilities, because of the size of his events, sometimes it ends up being two.
“And then with Covid, sometimes it’s one. So we must make sure that 2023 sees him box three times. It’s really important, and the activity is key.”
Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
