Eddie Hearn reveals his two back-up opponents for Anthony Joshua if Dubois fight doesn’t happen
Joshua has a number of other options should the Dubois showdown not occur…
Anthony Joshua is expected to face Daniel Dubois in his homecoming bout at Wembley Stadium on the 21st September. However, while the all-British clash promises to be a great spectacle, Joshua and his promoter Eddie Hearn have a couple of back-up options ready if the fight with ‘Triple D’ doesn’t materialise.
American heavyweight Deontay Wilder had been in the mix to fight Joshua, before two straight defeats left ‘The Bronze Bomber’ looking squarely at retirement. The 38-year-old lost consecutive bouts to Joseph Parker and Zhilei Zhang – and both those men are now potentially in line for a fight with Joshua if Dubois doesn’t end up standing across the ring from the Matchroom star.
In an interview with Boxing Scene, Hearn confirmed that Saudi boxing chief Turki Alalshikh – who is promoting the Wembley card – would have the final say on who Joshua headlines the show against, but admitted that Parker and Zhang would be strong contenders if Dubois was no longer an option.
Eddie Hearn Confirms Back-Up Fighters For Anthony Joshua’s Next Bout
‘AJ’ is currently riding a four-fight win streak
“Ultimately His Excellency will decide who the opponent is, with myself, with Josh, with 258 [Management], but the key for ‘AJ’ is for him to become world champion again. If that’s Dubois for the IBF, that’s probably the frontrunner; if the belt’s not on the line, it might be Zhang, or it might be Parker.”
Hearn continued: “Those three, I think, are decent names, but no decision’s been made yet, and I don’t think it will be for another week or so,” Hearn said. “There’s a press conference on the 26th of June, and that’s when we’ll announce, but either or any of them – we don’t really care.”
Parker got the better of Wilder in December, whereas Zhang knocked the Alabama native earlier this month. On the same night, Dubois stopped Filip Hrgovic in the eighth round to win the IBF Interim Heavyweight Championship. That title is a major reason why Joshua wants to face Dubois next, rather than Parker or Zhang.
Parker has been pursuing a rematch with Joshua for a long time now. Their previous bout came in 2018 where the British fighter got the better of the New Zealander to win the WBO heavyweight crown in Cardiff. Six years on from his first-ever career defeat, Parker still craves a crack at redemption.
The 32-year-old even got creative in his efforts to land the Joshua rematch. Parker put together a cover of Ed Sheeran’s hit song ‘Lego House’ to try and goad the Watford-born man into a second fight. It was so amusing that it went viral, but ultimately doesn’t look to have been enough to land him another opportunity to share the ring with Joshua.
Imposing heavyweight contender Zhang, meanwhile, probably won’t be putting together viral videos any time soon. However, he does pose a genuine threat to Joshua’s ambitions to dethrone current undisputed world heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk. The official announcement of the Wembley main event is expected in a little over two weeks.
