Anthony Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn has told talkSPORT that his man will vacate one of his world titles, if it means confirming a fight with Deontay Wilder or Tyson Fury later this year.
AJ is due to face IBF mandatory challenger Kubrat Pulev in May/June, but wants the victor of his rivals’ February 22 rematch afterwards.
However, he also has a WBO mandatory waiting in the form of Oleksandr Usyk and this could obstruct Joshua from fighting to become ‘undisputed’ champion with all four belts.
Hearn told talkSPORT’s Will Gavin: “Basically, if he wants to keep the belts, it has to be Pulev and then Usyk.
“So the belts are important, but so is the legacy. And at some point if he has to drop a belt to get the Wilder vs Fury winner, then he will do it.
“Because really I think what the Ruiz fight showed us is that anything can happen at any moment.
“We tried to get the Wilder fight before. We had backwards and forwards, ‘He said this, he said that.’
“But we didn’t do it and we nearly lost everything.
“And if it weren’t for AJ’s ability and persistence and will to win, to come back and beat Andy Ruiz–
“But now we’ve got it again. So we’ll be doing everything we can to move into the winner of that fight.”
Follow The Eagle Online Channel on WhatsApp
