Eddie Hearn, promoter for former two-time heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua, is looking at the potential options for his boxer’s next fight.
Last Saturday night at the O2 Arena in London, Joshua snapped a two-fight losing streak by winning a twelve round unanimous decision over Jermaine Franklin.
It was Joshua’s first bout with veteran trainer Derrick James, who is best known for his work with world champions Errol Spence and Jermell Charlo.
The frontrunner to face Joshua is Dillian Whyte, with Otto Wallin and Joe Joyce being mentioned as well.
Hearn would like to see Joshua take one more fight in the summer – before facing Tyson Fury or Deontay Wilder in December.
“The general feeling is we need another fight, a step up from Franklin, but in order to gel and continue improving with Derrick James, we need another fight in the summer of that nature,” Hearn said on The MMA Hour.
“We also know that the Tyson Fury fight, whether that’s even possible, may be a summer fight and that might be the only chance, so it’s a difficult decision, because if we’re doing it with a view to keep improving and for longevity and to get him to his best then we should have another fight. Momentum is key for AJ. He’s boxed like twice a year, sometimes once a year through Covid, for the last three or four years.
“I want him to box in July, and then again in December. I think it’ll do him really good to have a couple of weeks off now, then go straight back to Texas with Derrick James. If we’re going to go into a Fury or a Wilder, which is inevitable, I just want him to go in with the best chance that he can have and I feel right now he’s not at the optimum level he could be to go into those fights.
“He would still go into them and I still would give him a chance in those fights and I believe he could win those fights, but I would just like to see him firing going into these fights and what I saw on Saturday was not Joshua firing on all cylinders.”