Eddie Hearn Discusses Anthony Joshua’s Potential Retirement and Boxing Future

Eddie Hearn believes Anthony Joshua could retire after three more fights if he wins. Joshua (28-3, 25 KOs) turns 35 in October, and has a serious 50-50 fight with IBF heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois on September 21 in London.

Hearn says Joshua may hang up his gloves if he beats Dubois and defeats Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk is a two-time winner. However, Joshua’s chances of winning those fights are slim, especially against his former champion, Usyk.

Joshua’s Retirement After Three More Fights?

Usyk has AJ’s number, and we’ll likely see a rematch if Joshua faces the talent. Hopefully, there’s plenty of protection in place in case Joshua wakes up after the fight and has flashbacks of what happened at the military base where he double-crossed Usyk.

After those three fights, Joshua will undoubtedly be rich enough to leave the sport. By the time he finishes those games, AJ’s value will likely be in $500 million width, and the only reason to stay there would be to see if he could become the first sports billionaire. Dubois could shatter those plans by sending Joshua down to win on September 21 in their main event at Wembley Stadium in London.

“AJ can fight anyone. He would be happy to fight Ruiz again. He won’t be around forever,” Eddie Hearn told BoxNation about Anthony Joshua not being able to continue his career for a long time. “Three more, four more, five more, or six more.”

Hearn was asked about the possibility of a trilogy fight between Joshua and Andy Ruiz, who will fight Jarrell Miller on Saturday night.

It would be best for Hearn to hold off on a third clash between the two until Ruiz proves himself against a better opponent. He has been out of the game for a long time, and fans will not be impressed with his beating of 36-year-old Jarrell Miller. You have to do better than that to sell a trilogy match against Joshua to the public.

At least have Ruiz beat someone like Jared Anderson before he pulls the trigger on a trilogy fight against Joshua, and even then, it’s a bad idea. I wouldn’t do it if I were Hearn.

Hearn’s View of Joshua’s Last Matches

“The main strategy is to beat Daniel Dubois on September 21 and fight for the winner of Usyk-Fury,” Hearn said of Joshua. “No, I don’t think so [Joshua] he is still four or five years old, but who knows?”

Hearn is right. The money that Joshua will receive in his next three fights will be so great that he will not want to continue fighting. Joshua will be rich enough to buy Beverly Hillbillies mansion in the wealthy neighborhood of Bel Air in Los Angeles, which was sold for $150 million in 2019 to Lachlan Murdoch.

“He’s in the best shape of his life, he loves his boxing, and he’s very happy,” Hearn said of Joshua. “So, in the meantime, go ahead. Part of me would love to see AJ beat Daniel Dubois and fight the winner, Usyk-Fury, twice. If you win those, think about winning those and call it. That would be incredible.”

If Joshua wins those three fights, there will be no one left to fight that will bring the kind of money and fame he is hoping for. Jared Anderson, Martin Bakole, or Ruiz aren’t big enough names and don’t have the popularity for Joshua to continue his career.

Hearn’s Own Career and Interest in Boxing

“What about me? What else will I do? I’ve always told myself that I’m done when I get to 50. 45,” said Hearn when asked how long he intends to continue in advertising.

“It’s like anything. If you like something, why do you want to leave it? It’s unbelievably difficult. A game full of slags. He is 100%,” said Hearn when asked if Riyadh’s season has given him more motivation in the game.

It sounds like Hearn will stay in this game until he gets old, and you can’t blame him. His promotion skills make him a matchmaker. If he retired, he would be bored sitting at home and miss all the action.

“It gave me the opportunity to work with different people. “I really value the relationship with Queensberry and Spencer Brown,” said Hearn. “I’ve never really worked with anyone. It’s always been us against the world, and it’s really refreshing to sit down with people and work with people for the benefit of the sport, your business, and your fighters.”

Interestingly, Hearn finds himself working with different promoters that he never dreamed of working with years ago.

“I’m as happy and refreshed as I’ve ever felt in this game except for the times when I had no experience, and it was Froch, and we were criticizing life,” said Hearn.