No pressure on Anthony Joshua despite Fury carrot

By Declan Taylor

ANTHONY JOSHUA will open the door for back-to-back Tyson Fury fights in 2025 with a win against Daniel Dubois.

That is the prediction from his promoter Eddie Hearn who also believes that the two-time world heavyweight champion is not feeling the pressure because he has ‘lost the fear of losing’.

London pair Joshua and Dubois meet at Wembley Stadium on September 21 with the potential of a record-breaking 96,000 crowd in attendance.

Joshua is the challenger for Dubois’ IBF world heavyweight title but, having lost the belts to both Andy Ruiz and Oleksandr Usyk during the course of his career, another defeat here against the 26-year-old is unthinkable.

Hearn has suggested that AJ might only have another 18 months in the sport, but a win at Wembley will ensure not only that 2025 is the most lucrative year of his career yet but also his most high-profile one too.

Fury is set to face Usyk in their world heavyweight rematch in Riyadh on December 21 but, regardless of that result, Hearn reckons the long-awaited Battle of Britain will take place next if Joshua can win in the Saudi-sponsored card this month.

The Matchroom boss said: “How many more fights does Joshua have left in the UK? It depends if he keeps winning. If he wins on September 21st, I believe he will fight Tyson Fury, win or lose against Usyk. But Joshua will also want to fight Usyk for undisputed, that’s always been his dream.

“The great thing about September 21st is Turki [Al-Alshikh] will look around at Wembley and just go ‘wow’. He will be dying to do another one. In an ideal world, and this is nothing I’ve discussed with him [Turki], AJ wins, Fury wins, two fights next year for undisputed – one in Riyadh, one at Wembley. But again, that’s just my hope, no indication from Turki.

“You’ve seen his keenness to do shows around the world and I think he’s going to love Wembley.

“If AJ gets an electric knockout then it’s all eyes on Fury-Usyk and the momentum from an AJ win in style would take him into a massive 2025 which, funnily enough, could be the defining moment of his career.”

Given that two fights against Fury hang in the balance, there is a lot riding on a Joshua victory on September 21 but Hearn is adamant that the 34-year-old has the experience to handle it.

He added: “The vibe that I get is the fear of losing isn’t really there anymore. Because of the Ruiz and Usyk defeats, because you’ve experienced it before, you’ve been there and know how much it hurts. We don’t look at this fight and say ‘the pressure is on because if you lose to Dubois what could happen’. We are just excited for the fight.

“I think it’s a really tough and dangerous fight. It will be interesting to see what Dubois does and if he can handle the pressure. I know he boxed Usyk in Poland but this is going to be a moment that is going to make his knees knock.

“You need to have not just a big set of bollocks but you have to have a really strong mind to compose yourself in these kind of moments. I think it will make him fight more erratically which again is a danger. But whatever the game plan is, I think he will struggle to adopt it. I don’t think he will have a cool head which might make it a shootout. It’s a very, very dangerous fight.

“But there is no fear of losing, he takes on all challenges and this one just happens to have a world title attached to it.”

Joshua is on a hot streak of three straight knockouts after stopping Roberto Helenius, Otto Wallin and Francis Ngannou. It is clear his link-up with new trainer Ben Davison has been a success so far and Hearn believes September 21 will provide further proof that Harlow is the right place for the London 2012 Olympic champion.

Hearn said: “There was a period when I was going in the changing rooms, particularly around the Usyk, Franklin and even Helenius fights, where I was watching him hit pads and it just was not really flowing or clicking.

“Then I went in the changing rooms half an hour before the Wallin fight and I though ‘fuck me, I’ve never seen anything like this’. Everything that Ben was working on, you could see AJ getting everything. He had complete trust in Ben and Lee Wylie that the gameplan was absolutely perfect.

“When he fully gets the gameplan and when it’s fully drilled we think he’s unbeatable. And that’s how we feel at the moment. We feel that everything we are seeing in the training camp is exactly what’s going to happen on September 21st.

“With all due respect to Dubois, he makes mistakes and he’s not a difficult fighter to work out. He’s very strong, can punch and he’s physically a problem. When you analyse a fighter like that it’s not hard for the minds of Ben Davison and Lee Wylie to figure out the gameplan.”