Boxing
Anthony Joshua vs Oleksandr Usyk expected for April 2022, explains Eddie Hearn
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Eddie Hearn says Anthony Joshua remains on course for his 2022 rematch with Oleksandr Usyk, expecting a fight in April.
Usyk comprehensively defeated the then-champion in North London in late September this year, and Joshua then exercised his rematch clause.
There had been brief speculation that Joshua would entertain stepping aside to let Tyson Fury and Usyk fight it out for the title of undisputed heavyweight champion, but that talk has now subsided.
“Obviously not much other than we got to get together and decide a date. April is realistic for that fight and where it’s going to be," Hearn said to IFL TV.
“AJ is the type that fights twice a year, and sometimes we feel like it would be nice to fight three times a year. We’ve had offers from around the world, but I think the UK will stage that fight.”
Hearn said Joshua - who had toured US gyms in the expectation of making changes to his team for the rematch - was ready to move to a fight with Fury.
“We have to sit down with [Usyk’s manager] Alex Krassyuk, and we’ll get Christmas out of the way and we’ll start moving forward with that because it’s time to start planning for that,' Hearn said.
“Obviously, there were a couple of discussions about step asides and those kinds of fights. So we’ll have to see. But that looks very unlikely now because obviously of the Dillian Whyte situation, which AJ is pleased about.
“He didn’t want to have those conversations unless I presented them to him. So if that’s not the case, he moves forward with what he wants, which is the Oleksandr Usyk rematch."
