Eddie Hearn claims a clash between the Britons would fill Wembley but Joshua prefers to try to become undisputed world heavyweight champion by taking on Deontay WilderEddie Hearn admitted on Sunday he has less time than the prime minister does with Brexit to close a deal on a rematch between his three-belt champion, Anthony Joshua, and the heavyweight with the best left hook in the division, Dillian Whyte, at Wembley in April.Whyte, stopped in seven rounds by a Joshua uppercut at the O2 Arena in London three Decembers ago, lit up the same ring on Saturday night when he came from behind on two of the three cards to knock Derek Chisora unconscious in the 11th round. Related: Anthony Joshua...
The Russian provided some anxious moments early on but Anthony Joshua, even when he was bloodied, never panicked and was too hot to handleAfterwards, when the WBA, IBF and WBO heavyweight belts were once again strapped to his waist, Anthony Joshua insisted that he had had “fun” against Alexander Povetkin. It sure did not look that way. Indeed, for the first six rounds Wembley was gripped with something unmistakable and unusual for a Joshua fight: an eerie, apprehensive silence.It started when their man had his nose bloodied by a brutal uppercut at the end of the first and there were gasps every time Povetkin landed with a left hook. As the fight entered its second half, there seemed a growing...
The promoter’s control of heavyweight boxing is growing as Whyte earned himself a rematch with Anthony JoshuaEddie Hearn, working to a blueprint laid down nearly four decades ago by Don King, is taking control of heavyweight boxing with business acumen that continues to outflank his rivals.When two of his favourite London eccentrics, Dillian Whyte and Dereck Chisora, survived contrasting trials in front of a sell-out, 20,000 crowd at the O2 Arena on Saturday night, two more pieces of a fascinating transatlantic chess match fell into place. Related: Dillian Whyte roughs up Joseph Parker and blazes into heavyweight reckoning Related: Heather 'The Heat' Hardy: fighting gender inequality in boxing – in pictures Continue reading...
At one stage the world’s most exciting heavyweight, the Hayemaker has not achieved what he should have doneDavid Haye was once the most exciting heavyweight in the world. He was fast, powerful and smart in the ring, punching considerably above his weight, loud and controversial outside it, a charismatic magnet of controversy.Yet for all that he has achieved – world titles at cruiser and heavyweight and as much celebrity and money as any good-looking working-class south London boy could have asked for – there is little doubt that, at 37, he has fallen short of what he could have achieved in an era of flux. Related: Katie Taylor takes first step towards being the one and only champion Continue reading...
Deontay Wilder is the man Anthony Joshua wants next – but if Tyson Fury ever gets fit again he could prove the tougher testAt some point, surely, the money will talk. And the negotiations between Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder, which increasingly carry the pheromonal whiff of a secondary‑school playground, will conclude with the planet’s two hardest-punching heavyweights putting their belts on the line in an epic reunification fight.But even if Joshua creates history – as I expect him to do – by adding Wilder’s WBC belt to his WBA, IBF and WBO titles, thus becoming the first heavyweight to hold all four major belts at the same time, there is another fighter with the pedigree and x-factor to give...