Eddie Hearn believes the only opponent Tyson Fury can face next is Anthony Joshua after his defeat to Oleksandr Usyk on Saturday night.
Fury was beaten by Usyk for a second time in Saudi Arabia as all three judges scored the fight 116-112 in favour of the Ukrainian.
The loss is now the second of Fury’s career and Usyk could now face Daniel Dubois, who beat Joshua for the IBF world heavyweight title in September, at some point next year if the 27-year-old Brit beats Joseph Parker on February 22.
Joshua’s next opponent is yet to be confirmed following his defeat to Dubois and Hearn believes Fury’s loss to Usyk has paved the way for a fight between Joshua and Fury at Wembley in 2025.
‘I don’t think it’s time to start screaming, this night is Usyk vs Fury, but the reality is there’s only one fight for Tyson Fury and that’s Anthony Joshua,’ Hearn told DAZN after Fury’s defeat.
‘It’s the biggest fight probably in the history of British boxing, everyone will always want to see it.
‘And by the way that wasn’t a Tyson Fury that looked finished, it wasn’t a flat performance, it wasn’t a poor performance, he didn’t look gun-shy, he didn’t look like his punch resistance was in question like we talked about earlier.
‘I think Tyson Fury is still potentially at the peak of his powers, just not good enough to be Oleksandr Usyk tonight.
‘But for me, AJ against Fury is the one, it’s the one at Wembley, I’m going to be pushing His Excellency [Turki Alalshikh] to make the fight, but that’s maybe one for another day, tonight belongs to Oleksandr Usyk.
‘But Fury will struggle with this, I think. All fighters do, AJ struggled with the Dubois defeat as well, you’re a winner and when you get beat it hurts and this will hurt Tyson Fury.’
Asked if it will hurt Fury more after losing for a second time, Hearn replied: ‘Yeah, because it’s frustration.
‘You remember when AJ lost to Usyk for a second time you saw his reaction. He trained so hard for that fight, he put his entire soul into beating Usyk in the rematch and you heard from Fury about the sacrifices he made in camp, he did the same thing.
‘That’s why he left the ring tonight, probably the same kind of frustration, ‘how did I not beat him? Why? I did everything right, I made the sacrifices, didn’t talk to anyone’, and it’s frustrating for these guys, they’re winners.’
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