Boxing
Eddie Hearn: Tyson Fury is not done but Anthony Joshua must be next
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Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn believes there is much more to come from Tyson Fury despite the Brit suffering consecutive defeats to Oleksandr Usyk.
Fury looked even stronger in this rematch than he did in May's original bout. Unfortunately for him, so did Usyk, who retained his WBA, WBC and WBO world heavyweight titles by unanimous decision.
It leaves questions on what Fury will do next after enduring such a frustrating night and result having put everything into the rematch and seemingly doing everything right.
However all three judges scored the fight 116-112 in Usyk's favour, much to the surprise and anger of Fury's Queensbury promoter Frank Warren.
However Warren's rival Hearn was sympathetic to Fury and full of praise for the Morecambe fighter.
"That was not a Tyson Fury who was finished or past his best," Hearn told DAZN. "That wasn't a flat performance. It wasn't a poor performance.
"He didn't look gun shy, he didn't look like his punch resistance had dropped or was in question.
"I think Tyson is still at the peak of his powers. He just was not able to beat Oleksandr Usyk on the night. It doesn't mean he is done.
"Fury will struggle with this defeat. All fighters do. AJ suffered the same after the Dubois defeat.
You get beat, it hurts, this will hurt for a long time. He will be frustrated so much by this, having put so much into this to try and beat Usyk. He did everything right and still could not win.
"It is frustrating for a fighter of his quality."
Fury left the ring without making any comment, leaving us all to guess his next move. With the contest again so close, a trilogy fight could still be on the cards.
However, more likely is a return to the UK and Hearn is determined to finally make the fight with Anthony Joshua happen.
"There is only one fight for Tyson Fury now and that is Anthony Joshua. That would be the biggest fight in British boxing history. Everyone wants to see it.
"Fury versus Joshua is the one now, it has to be the one. At Wembley, sold out crowd, and then it is out here again for Riyadh Season."
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