Eddie Hearn believes Anthony Joshua could retire after three more fights if he scores a victory. Joshua (28-3, 25 KOs) turns 35 in October and faces a risky 50-50 fight with IBF heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois on September 21 in London.
Hearn says Joshua could hang up his gloves if he beats Dubois and then beats the winner of the Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk rematch twice. However, Joshua’s chances of winning those fights are quite slim, especially if they include him fighting former heavyweight Usyk.
Will Joshua retire after three more fights?
Usyk has AJ’s number and we’ll likely see a repeat of that if Joshua faces the talent. Hopefully there’s plenty of protection in case Joshua mentally snaps after the fight and has flashbacks to what happened in the war zone during his previous two meetings with Usyk.
After these three fights, Joshua will no doubt be opulent enough to retire from the sport. When he finishes these matches, AJ’s net worth will probably be 500 million dollars rangeand the only reason to stay would be to see if he could become the sport’s first billionaire. Dubois could thwart those plans by sending Joshua to defeat on September 21 in their main event at Wembley Stadium in London.
“AJ would fight anyone. He would love to fight Ruiz again. He won’t live forever,” Eddie Hearn said BoxNation on the fact that Anthony Joshua likely won’t continue his career for much longer. “Three, four, five or six more.”
Hearn was asked about the possibility of a trilogy fight between Joshua and Andy Ruiz, who will face Jarrell Miller next Saturday night.
Hearn would be better off holding off on a third fight between the two until Ruiz has proven himself against a top contender. He has been out of the sport for too long, and fans will not be impressed that he beat 36-year-old Jarrell Miller. You will have to do a better job of selling a trilogy match with Joshua.
At least get Ruiz to beat someone like Jared Anderson before you pull the trigger on a trilogy fight with Joshua, and even then it’s a bad idea. I wouldn’t do it if I were Hearn.
Hearn’s take on Joshua’s final fights
“The main plan is to beat Daniel Dubois on September 21st and then fight for the undisputed title against the winner of Usyk-Fury,” Hearn said of Joshua. “No, I don’t think so. [Joshua] He’s got four or five more years ahead of him, but who knows?”
Hearn is right. The money Joshua will get for his next three fights will be so large that he won’t want to continue fighting. Joshua will be opulent enough to buy Beverly Hillbillies Mansion in the affluent Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles, which was sold for $150 million to Lachlan Murdoch in 2019.
“He’s in the best shape of his life, he loves boxing and he’s very ecstatic,” Hearn said of Joshua. “So if that’s the case, keep going. Part of me would like to see AJ beat Daniel Dubois and then fight the winner, Usyk-Fury, twice. If you won those fights, imagine winning those fights and then calling them. That would be unbelievable.”
If Joshua wins these three fights, there will be no one left who could fight and bring him the money and fame he is counting on. Jared Anderson, Martin Bakole or Ruiz are not large enough names and do not have the popularity that would allow Joshua to continue his career.
Hearn’s boxing career and passion
“What am I? What else am I supposed to do? I always said in my head that I’d be done when I got to 50.45,” Hearn said when asked how long he intended to stick with the promotion.
“It’s like anything. If you love something, why would you want to leave it? It’s an unbelievable worry. It’s a game full of bitches. 100%,” Hearn said when asked if Riyadh’s contribution to boxing had given him more enthusiasm for the sport.
It sounds like Hearn has stayed in the sport into vintage age, and you can’t blame him. His promotional skills make him a natural at the game. If he retired, he’d be bored sitting at home and missing out on all the action.
“It gave me the opportunity to work with different people. I value my relationship with Queensberry and Spencer Brown,” Hearn said. “I’ve never really worked with anyone. It’s always been us against the world, and it’s actually quite refreshing to sit down with people and work with them for the good of the sport, for your business and for your players.”
Interestingly, Hearn is working with a variety of promoters he would never have considered many years ago.
“I’m more excited and fresher than I’ve ever been in the game, apart from the times when I had no idea and it was Froch and we were just living life to the fullest,” Hearn said.
The World Boxing Council (WBC) ordered world cruiserweight champion Badou “The Ripper” Jack (20-1-1, 19 KO) to make a mandatory title defense against Ryan “The Bruiser” Rozicki (20-1), number 1 in the WBC ranking – 1, 19 KOs).
If both camps fail to successfully negotiate an agreement, the WBC will organize a tender on February 4, followed by the Jack vs. Rozicki. Rozicki’s promoter, Three Lions Promotions, immediately sent Team Jacek an offer to promote the fight in Canada last week.
“We are waiting for their counteroffer,” explained promoter Dan Otter of Three Lions Promotions. “Boxing has had a huge resurgence in Canada and Ryan is leading the way. He is one of the most electrifying and hardest-hitting fighters in boxing, definitely in the cruiserweight division. He wants the WBC green belt and ultimately the unification of the division. Ryan will fight Jack anywhere for the belt.”
29-year-old Rozicki, born in Sydney (Nova Scotia) and living in Hamilton (Ontario), fought 22 professional fights against 21 different opponents (twice against Yamil Alberto Peralta), stopping 19 of the 20 opponents he defeated. an eye-opening 95-KO percentage.
Jack, 41, was a 2008 Olympian representing his native Sweden. He is a three-division world champion, as well as the WBC super middleweight and World Boxing Association (WBA) lightweight heavyweight title holder. Jack has a record of 5-0-2 (2 KO) in world championship fights.
“We respect Jack and I don’t want to sound disrespectful,” Otter added, “but he’s over 40 years vintage and has been relatively inactive for two years (only one fight). He brings a lot of experience and respect to the ring, but he will fight a newborn defender with a lot of power. Jack is going to struggle and honestly, I don’t think he’ll make it past the first few rounds.”
Ryan Rozicki is on a mission to become the first Canadian cruiserweight world champion.
Floyd Mayweather’s incredible 50-0 record is not normal and cannot be repeated in sports for another seventy years.
This is the view of Saudi Arabian president Turki Alalshikh, who wants to adopt the UFC model in which fighters lose many fights during their career.
In a speech as he hosted the Ring Magazine Awards after acquiring the long-running boxing publication from Oscar De La Hoya, Alalshikh was unequivocal in his opinion.
“Now losing some fights in boxing must be normal,” he explained. “All fighters want a career similar to Floyd Mayweather – no losses. This may happen once every 50, 60 or 70 years.
“We need it [to be] like currently in the UFC model, where champions lose and win,” added the matchmaker during the Riyad season.
Mayweather rose through the sport in the tardy 1990s to become one of its youngest superstars. Mayweather’s professional success came after winning a bronze medal at the Olympics after losing to Serafim Todorov.
Winning world titles in five weight classes, Mayweather was untouchable. The Grand Rapids native only came close to defeat a few times. He dominated Manny Pacquiao and overtook Canelo Alvarez and Oscar De La Hoya after heated debates, with decisions that should have been made unanimously.
Towards the end of his career, Mayweather chose to face Andre Berto and Conor McGregor, easily winning and ending his boxing career at the age of 50 without ever going out. Calling himself “the greatest of all time,” Mayweather earned first-ballot Hall of Fame honors and is widely considered one of, if not the greatest defensive fighter of all time.
However, Alalshikh says this type of career needs to end so that fans can get the most out of boxing, as is the case with the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Boxing needs to become more attractive, and Alalshikh sees the failures of top stars as a way to keep interest at an all-time high.
In this sport, many boxers enjoy undefeated streaks, the most notable of which is Oleksandr Usyk. The Ukrainian Pound for Pound King is 23-0 and has beaten the best he has to offer in his division and cruiserweight classification.
It remains a mystery how Alalshikh plans to make Usyk suffer while he dominates everyone else. By the time his grand plan goes into action, Usyk will be long gone, and Gervonta Davis, Shakur Stevenson and Devin Haney may be more realistic targets.
WBN understands that despite alternative options emerging, it is more likely that Manny Pacquiao will face Mario Barrios next.
Bob Santos, coach of WBC welterweight champion Barrios, told World Boxing News that he is currently in contact with Pacquiao’s team. Asked by WBN if he had spoken to Pacquiao or representatives of any other challenger, Santos replied: “Yes, Pacquiao’s promoter, Sean Gibbons.” Pressed on whether Barrios vs Pacquiao might happen next, he added: “It’s challenging to say. We’ll have to see how this plays out.”
WBN contacted Santos after Conor Benn emerged as a potential alternative to Barrios. The British fighter, who recently returned from a suspension following two positive drug tests, is keen to return to competition.
Benn showed favor with the World Boxing Council at the recent WBC Convention, the WBC Evaluation Committee and during an interview with the sanctioning body over the weekend. “The Destroyer” is ranked second in the rankings at 147 pounds, despite less than solid opponents during his time in exile, during which Benn competed twice in the United States while his career in the United Kingdom was in doubt.
As he battled to clear his name and with the British Anti-Doping Authority finding no evidence that Benn had intentionally taken ostarine, the 28-year-old’s career took a pointed nosedive. Despite this, he remains highly rated and at least one step away from fighting for an eliminator or one of the remaining championship titles.
However, Pacquiao remains Barrios’ favorite. Now it’s up to the boxing legend and Hall of Famer who got the first votes to secure his shot. WBN believes a July date – most likely at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas – is the most realistic date for a Nevada swan song.
Pacquiao could extend his record as the oldest welterweight champion by six years if he can secure a huge victory over the 29-year-old world champion. At 46 years antique, such a scenario remains unlikely, but he can never be compared to one of the greatest players of this generation.
Unlike heavier boxers and his training regiment, Pacquiao looks in great shape despite his advanced age. Everything is set for a massive return to the boxing capital of the world, provided Pacquiao and his team can manage his political ambitions, which are expected to run from this month until May. After that time, Pacquiao could find himself in the summer finals and become the all-time champion, regardless of the result.
Barrios is based in the city, where he trained with Santos, and would be the perfect opponent to see out the career of one of the greatest fighters in history.
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