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Peter Akinbo.
Anthony Joshua‘s promoter Eddie Hearn has revealed the reason negotiations for the all-British clash between Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury collapsed.
Boxing fans around the world were disappointed to learn that the hotly anticipated “Battle of Britain” bout would not be going ahead as initially proposed on December 3rd.
And speaking on talkSPORT, Hearn revealed why the talks between the two parties collapsed.
“It’s probably a bit of everybody’s fault. It’s a very complex situation for both teams, with TV networks,” he said.
“Listen, I don’t mind saying, Joshua’s just coming off a defeat, he wanted December 17, but we agreed to December 3, he would have had to get back into the gym immediately, which he was going to do.
“I don’t sit here today, as someone who represents Anthony Joshua, devastated that the fight didn’t happen.
“He wanted to take it, so I was all in, but it was a very quick turnaround for him in a fight of that magnitude.”
As the talks with Joshua collapsed now, Fury has instead drafted in Derek Chisora to complete a trilogy against him.
And should Fury win that fight, he is then expected to take on Joshua’s nemesis Oleksandr Usyk in a never-seen-before unified heavyweight title fight that will see all four belts on the line for the first time in the four-belt era.
Meanwhile, Joshua is expected to fight against Dillian Whyte early next year.
“I think he’s going to fight in January or February, early next year,” Hearn said.
“The issue with Joshua is, in my opinion, he’s coming off the back of two Usyk defeats, coming off the back of the disappointment and the emotional implosion after the fight.
“I think he should come back with two standard top 15 opponents, good solid fights, but he doesn’t really want it.
“I think the fight that you’ll see early next year is Dillian Whyte against Anthony Joshua.”
