“I don’t think he fancies that rematch" - Frank Warren believes Anthony Joshua vs. Oleksandr Usyk 2 will not happen
Anthony Joshua is expected to rematch Oleksandr Usyk later this year. However, promoter Frank Warren doesn't believe that 'AJ' will go through with the highly-anticipated fight.
The head of Queensberry promotions has given his take following Eddie Hearn discussing his promotion's fight between Tyson Fury and Dillian Whyte. Hearn recently noted that he's not sure the fight between 'The Gyspy King' and 'The Body Snatcher' will happen.
Warren didn't take to kindly to those comments and has weighed in on the other massive Heavyweight bout between Oleksandr Usyk and Anthony Joshua. He made an appearance on talkSPORT Breakfast, where he opined:
"He [Eddie Hearn] keeps talking about Tyson [Fury] not fighting Usyk, I don’t think Joshua will. That’s my opinion. I don’t think he fancies that rematch at the moment. Hearn has his hands full now, he’s got that fight to get on and why does he keep banging on about what we’re doing for? Our fight is going to be on BT Box Office, it’s going to be a great fight to watch. Afterwards, they can go and watch all those shows Eddie is putting on his app.”
Anthony Joshua nearly stepped aside to allow a fight between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk
Anthony Joshua lost to Oleksandr Usyk last September in a massive upset. The Englishman was expected to beat his Ukranian foe before having a megabout against Tyson Fury.
He went on to lose the fight via a one-sided unanimous decision, dashing those plans. Following the bout, 'AJ' activated his rematch clause to face Usyk once again. However, there was then a discussion of Joshua stepping aside due to the former Champion changing trainers.
Due to the change, many thought the former Champion would need more time to prepare. As a result, there was a discussion between Joshua's management and Tyson Fury to arrange a possible step-aside deal. The agreement would allow 'The Gypsy King' to fight Usyk in a massive Heavyweight championship bout.
However, the step-aside deal was allegedly dashed in the final stages of discussions. Both sides have since blamed the other for the the deal not coming together, with Frank Warren blaming Joshua for demanding an obscene amount of money to pass up the rematch against Usyk.
With the deal no longer on the table, Anthony Joshua is back to square one. He is now set to fight Oleksandr Usyk once again.
As of now, there's no date or venue announced for the fight, but fans of 'AJ' can expect details of his return in the near future.