Promoter Eddie Hearn insists that the British fight between Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury is still the biggest fight in the sport.
The much-anticipated fight between these British giants will generate excitement for UK fans, but that’s about it. It is a spectacle for people in other parts of the world. American fans will not want to buy a Joshua vs. Fury on PPV unless it’s underpriced.
Fights involving Ryan Garcia and Gervonta Davis are more exciting in the US PPV market than a Joshua-Fury fight. Garcia-Davis brought in over a million PPV buys, making it one of the most successful fights in the US for years.
Hearn said on social media that he still thinks the Joshua-Fury fight is the one that attracts the most fans. However, that perception could change if the 36-year-old Fury (34-1-1, 24 KOs) loses his rematch with Oleksandr Usyk on December 21.
The good thing about this match is that it will still bring in a lot of money for Joshua and Fury and their promoters. Since the Saudis are sponsoring the game, it will be profitable even though it is a war of old times rather than a matter of importance.
Joshua-Fury = Domestic Scrap
British fans will still be dying to see Joshua and Fury fight, it is NOT the best fight in boxing. It is much better at domestic level in the UK. If Fury beats Usyk in December, that would go a long way in making the fight with Joshua look less like an old man’s scam and more realistic.
Unfortunately, Fury is likely to be beaten again by Usyk in their rematch on December 21st, but this time with a knockout without the referee interfering to prevent the UK as they last fight on May 18th.
It will still be a match between two shop-worn, pampered, manufactured instruments that are advertised to look like the real thing. Both were fool’s gold from the moment they turned pro.
Joshua has been closely compared to Hearn since turning professional in 2013, and his career would have been very different had he been thrown to the wolves earlier.
For example, Hearn didn’t schedule a fight between Joshua and Klitschko until they were 41 years old, coming off a year-long losing streak to Fury. Hearn could have done that fight in 2013 when Wladimir was still fighting at a high level. This is just one example of Hearn’s game benefiting Joshua and helping him become a star without fighting dangerous fights that he may have lost.
Fury had to lose twice to Deontay Wilder and John McDermott. He would have a lot more when compared to the likes of Martin Bakole, Filip Hrgovic, Zhilei Zhang, and Joseph Parker.
Will UK fans still buy AJ-Fury?
Fury will be 0-2 against Joshua (28-4, 25 KOs), who has a 4-3 record in his last seven fights. The four wins were tomato cans fed to AJ by Hearn as part of his expensive rebuilding effort to get him back to what was supposed to be the factory condition he was in when he was drafted in 2013.
“AJ vs. Fury,” said Eddie Hearn when asked what is the biggest match in boxing.
Hearn is right about Joshua-Fury being the biggest fight for fans in the UK but not for the rest of the world. These two British heavyweights are considered old, washed up by Americans, and never as good as first believed. Joshua and Fury were both carefully targeted by their promoters to appear bigger than they were, but neither was ever truly strong.
Their best win was over his boss Wladimir Klitschko. Wladimir was 39 when Fury defeated him in 2015 and 41 when Joshua stopped him in 2017.
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