Boxing
Eddie Hearn reveals the funny reason why he wanted Anthony Joshua to win Olympic silver instead of gold
Joshua vs. Prenga: Only on DAZN PPV - July 25
Eddie Hearn has been Anthony Joshua’s promoter since the start of his professional career, but he has joked with the 36-year-old that he didn’t want him to win gold at the 2012 Olympics.
16 years ago, Joshua burst onto the heavyweight scene by capturing gold at the London games in a star-studded event that also saw fighters like Oleksandr Usyk and Artur Beterbiev impress on amateur boxing’s grandest stage.
The gold medal for Joshua was a platform for him to push on and become one of boxing’s biggest stars after he turned pro the following year.
In 2016, Joshua stopped Charles Martin to become world champion, and he has been around the business end of the heavyweight division ever since featuring in some huge stadium encounters.
On July 25, Joshua returns to the ring for his first outing of the year when he faces Kristian Prenga knowing that victory could set up a huge end of year showdown with Tyson Fury, his longtime rival.
Heading into that fight, Joshua spent some time with Hearn and Frank Smith as they discussed many topics relating to Joshua’s career including Hearn playfully suggesting he was disappointed that Joshua won gold.
“I was thinking ‘please don’t win as this will cost me a fortune,’ joked Hearn during a sitdown with Joshua for DAZN.
“Silver will be nice as it’s only half the money.”
Joshua vs. Prenga - exclusively on DAZN PPV
Watch Anthony Joshua's hugely anticipated return to the ring versus Kristian Prenga on Saturday, July 25 only on DAZN PPV. Buy as a one-off PPV or included, along with Itauma vs. Hrgovic and Canelo vs. Mbilli PPVs, with a DAZN Ultimate Tier subscription.
