Anthony Joshua’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, fires back at Deontay Wilder’s trainer
The long-awaited match between Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder is turning into a swelling saga that some fans do not find entertaining but have to watch.
Since Anthony Joshua’s two-time loss to three-belt Ukrainian champion Olexandr Usyk, his devoted fans have been waiting for the charming boxer’s great return to no avail. The thing is that once a champion fighter suffers two losses in any boxing division, there is likely to be a shift in hierarchies.
Joshua has consolidated his place in the heavyweight division by winning two big opponents since his dethronement, one of which was Robert Helenius, but fans think that Joshua should not fight any contender of Helenius’ calibre anymore since Joshua proved that he was meant for the upper slots.
Just as fans are craving to see Tyson Fury and Olexandr Usyk dance around in the ring, so do they want to see Deontay Wilder and Anthony Joshua finally satisfy their curiosity about who is better. The bout was planned to take place in the past after a negotiation that has now become useless following the inability of a figure to carry out the agreed plans.
Following this development, which many fans see as both surprising and unsavoury, Deotay Wilder’s trainer, Malik Scott, made a statement insinuating that Eddie Hearn was the reason a most recent effort to make things work fell apart. As you have guessed, Eddie Hearn did not like the taste of such a defamatory statement that allegedly accused him of something he knew nothing about. So Eddie Hearn replied in kind.
‘Malik Scott talks so much s**t,’ announced Hearn. ‘He also said it was my fault. We weren’t even involved in the negotiations. The situation is we were offered a deal that we accepted. It’s not my fault some now that of the alternatives are not anywhere near the number of the first offer.’
Malik Scott’s statement not so long ago included the names of those he expected to fight with his man Deontay Wilder,.
‘… Ruiz is a top-tier heavyweight, so anybody that’s in that top-tier, including him, is definitely an option. We may go with Ruiz.
‘Who else is there? Usyk, but Usyk is fighting Fury. I wouldn’t mind seeing Deontay knock out Zhang who just beat Joe Joyce. He put himself in a position to be an option. And I would want that to be in Zhang’s country.
‘Who else is really there? At the top-tier everybody is tied up or busy. AJ may be fighting Hrgovic from what I’m hearing.’
Frank Warren confirmed Scott’s final statement recently, saying that Filip Hrgovic is totally in Anthony Joshua’s rader, including Otto Waliin as the convenient favourite.
‘We’re also in line to potentially fight against Filip Hrgovic for the IBF title, or we’ll see what happens with Otto Wallin,’ revealed Hearn. ‘I don’t care about Deontay Wilder. He’s got his own problems, the guy ain’t fought for a year, and his last fight [a first round knockout of Robert Helenius] was 40 seconds, so I think he don’t really want to fight.’