No matter the result of Klitschko vs Fury on November 28th, Anthony Joshua is more than willing to fight his fellow countryman, according to promoter Eddie Hearn. Should Fury’s world title dreams turn into a nightmare, it may be comforting for the 6’ 7” fighter to know he has another big pay day on the horizon for 2016.
“Win or lose on November 28, if he beats Klitschko, Joshua would fight him next, if he loses Joshua would fight him next anyway,” Eddie Hearn told Boxing News.
It may all depend on just how good Joshua looks against Dillian Whyte on December 12th – and of course, whether he is victorious. (OK, right now it would seem incredibly likely. But after seeing Holly Holm do the unthinkable by stopping UFC golden girl Ronda Rousey at the weekend, suddenly an upset seems far from impossible.)
With Joshua vs Whyte set to air on Sky Sports Box Office, many boxing fans are afraid Joshua could soon be fighting exclusively in pay per view events. But Hearn said it all comes down to the appeal and marketability of the rising star’s future opponents. Which is, yeah, kind of a given.
“It’s very difficult,” Hearn said. “You’ve earned X and then someone comes along and says I’m going to pay you four times less for your next one. But it depends on his [Joshua’s] development, if he’s ready to move forward. You can’t fight Mariusz Wach [on Sky Box Office]. You couldn’t fight him on pay per view but it’s a good fight for him.
“I might turn round and say, I don’t know, I want you to fight Bryant Jennings, a good fight, a world level heavyweight fighter and they turn round and say, we’re not quite ready for that. Okay well, you can have one in February or March against [someone else] but obviously the money’s going to be a lot less.
“So it’s up to you. They might demolish Dillian Whyte and go, ‘We’ll fight Fury.’ Fury has a great fight with Klitschko, we do Joshua-Fury in April and of course that’s pay-per-view and it does 700 or 800,000 buys.”
It certainly makes sense. The bulk of buys in British pay per view fights come from casual boxing fans. If the B-side isn’t named Tyson Fury, David Haye, Dillian Whyte or Derek Chisora, the attraction just isn’t there. Hey, that’s just boxing.
How would you see Anthony Joshua handling a mountain like Tyson Fury? Would Fury get chopped down just as quick as previous victims? Would questions be asked? Or would you even fancy Fury in such a fight?
