Eddie Hearn has opened up on whether or not Anthony Joshua is thinking about retirement as he plots a way back to the top of boxing.
AJ has to Oleksandr Usyk were followed up by battering from Daniel Dubois last September.
That fight saw Joshua relinquish the IBF heavyweight title after he sunk to the canvas in the fifth round at Wembley.
That has given both Joshua – and his promoter Hearn – the challenge of finding a path to rebuild the 35-year-old’s reputation or else call it quits.
A blockbuster all-British bout against Tyson Fury was tipped for some point this year but the Gypsy King, reeling from his own Usyk defeats, retired from the sport last month to close that avenue to redemption for Joshua.
Fury’s decision led to speculation that Joshua may follow suit and also retire. And Hearn admitted that day may not be too far away.
“Not yet, but there will come the time, “ Hearn said. “Those kinds of conversations really come from behind the scenes from how somebody is performing in camp.
“In camp, if you haven’t got it anymore, it’ll be apparent. The injuries will get worse, you’ll get hurt in sparring against somebody you shouldn’t be getting hurt against.
“You’re not sharp and when that moment comes, that’s when the team will say ‘AJ’s not looking good you know’ and that’s the moment when I will probably have a conversation with him.
“For the Daniel Dubois fight, the camp was great. He was super sharp and we were really confident going into that fight, coming off four good wins, two really good wins, and we thought he would win.
“We knew how dangerous the fight was, so he comes out, has a terrible start, never really recovers, comes back into the fight a little bit and gets chinned. No problem.”
“If camp had gone really poorly and we were unsure, I think that conversation may have been brought forward.”
So, with retirement off the cards for the short-term then who are the duo eyeing up for Joshua’s next bout? The answer to that will become clear after this coming weekend.
Dubois will defend his title on February 22 in Saudi Arabia when he takes on Kiwi Joseph Parker. Hearn and AJ’s plan is to fight the victor – whoever that may be.
Hearn told BetFred: “Right now because Tyson Fury is retired, so put him to the side, the number one choice for AJ is to fight for the world heavyweight title. That’s 99 per cent of what he wants to do and if that’s Daniel Dubois, no problem. If that’s Joseph Parker, no problem.
“If AJ turns around and says that’s what he’s doing, then it’s done. It’s not me saying he can’t fight Daniel Dubois. Some people say he shouldn’t have fought Oleksandr Usyk. What are you talking about?
“It’s your job, he’s the mandatory, what do you want to do? Give your belt up and have all that criticism that you ducked Usyk and you vacated your belt to do it?”
Credit: thenationonlineng.net
