Hearn: “There Won’t Be Any Big Names for Joshua This Year, Except Maybe Jake Paul”

Eddie Hearn, head of Matchroom Boxing, shared details about the next fight for his client, British former world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua. According to the promoter, Joshua could fight before the end of the year, but it won’t be a main event and it won’t be on pay-per-view.

“There won’t be any big names this year, except maybe Jake Paul. But other than that — no, nothing like that. Maybe someone from the top-20, no more.

And, honestly, it doesn’t matter much. Don’t worry, it won’t be the main event, it won’t be pay-per-view, nobody will be complaining. It might just be part of an existing card.

So no noise — just a stage of preparation to be 100% ready for a big risk. If he fights this year, it certainly won’t be as the headliner. We want to work quietly, improve, get him into full readiness. It’s about development and activity, not about money or commerce.

Sometimes, when you’ve been away from the ring a long time and you’re working on new things, you shouldn’t immediately step out in front of 80,000 people in a tough fight. You need to get back into the rhythm gradually. This is a training phase for us and for Anthony. Not for the fans, not for sales. If he appears on the undercard — congratulations, you just got a free Joshua fight with your ticket. But that’s not the point.

We’ve firmly decided: everything we do in this final chapter of his career must be 100% right for Anthony. That’s it. We don’t care if people grumble: ‘Who’s he fighting?’, ‘Why only eight rounds?’, ‘Why on the undercard?’ Screw that! We’ll do what’s necessary to prepare him for the big fight — that’s what matters.

Do I mean Fury or a title shot? Yes, Tyson Fury. He wants that. But there are two things he’s aiming for: a fight with Tyson Fury and getting the title back. Everything just needs to line up in the political game of boxing for that to be possible. And a fight with Fury is definitely realistic — and only one person can make it happen, because we’re already ready,” Hearn said.