Eddie Hearn doesn’t think there is any reason to shirk away from the fact that he feels his star charge needs more fine-tuning in the gym.
The Matchroom head admitted in a recent interview that London’s Anthony Joshua needs more time to grow with his new trainer Derrick James before he is thrown into the ring against either WBC heavyweight titlist Tyson Fury or former titlist Deontay Wilder.
Joshua is coming off a solid if unspectacular points win over Michigan’s Jermaine Franklin earlier this month in what was his first outing with Dallas, Texas-based James, the coach of champions Errol Spence Jr. and Jermell Charlo.
Hearn, who admitted that Joshua failed to be assertive against Franklin, had initially floated the idea of Joshua fighting three times this year, including a rematch with Dillian Whyte for his next fight. Joshua stopped Whyte in the seventh round in their non-title bout in 2015.
Joshua recently stated that his next fight is not likely to take place until December.
Hearn is cognizant that the issue now concerns balancing Joshua’s development as a fighter with his commercial demands and has suggested the public won’t take too kindly to too many “tune-up” fights from Joshua.
“I think Dillian Whyte is a great option,” Hearn said in an interview with The DAZN Boxing Show. “It’s a dangerous fight. I think that’s a good fight. There’s other guys in the top-15.
“You’re better off being honest and saying, ‘Look, this is where we’re at.’ I need him to have another fight with a level slightly above Jermaine Franklin, gel with Derrick James, hopefully go in there with a little more confidence to prepare him for Fury or Wilder.”
Hearn recently said that Bob Arum, the American promoter of Fury, had reached out to him to inquire about making a fight between Fury and Joshua. The two heavyweight had been in deep talks to face each other at least twice in the past but could never get a deal cut.
“We’re not ruling that out,” Hearn said. “If a big offer comes in or a big site comes in [we will take the fight right away]—unlikely in July.
“But I just really want to see momentum [from Joshua]. People have got to understand: When you talk about desire, this guy’s got so much desire still literally after the fight all he’s been doing is analyzing his performance, talking to people, watching,” Hearn said. “Part of him enjoyed Saturday night because he got back to winning ways. He hasn’t won in nearly three years. You can hype it up as much as you want. ‘I’ll tell the media my career is over if I lose.’ He knew deep down his career was over if he lost that fight. So sorry for not taking too many chances in that fight.”