Promoter Eddie Hearn doesn’t suppose he has egg on his face the way in which Lennox Lewis has insisted he does.
The Matchroom head and the final undisputed heavyweight champion in boxing went forwards and backwards on social media just lately because it pertains to the upcoming battle between Hearn’s cost, Anthony Joshua, and former UFC champion Francis Ngannou on March 8 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The matchup is the newest high-profile battle to happen within the oil-producing kingdom, courtesy of one in every of their highly effective bureaucrats, Turki Alalshikh.
Lewis excoriated Hearn for standing behind Joshua vs. Ngannou, particularly since Hearn ridiculed WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury for deciding to battle Ngannou, a boxing novice, final October. However the perceived mismatch turned out to be a largely aggressive affair, with Ngannou even dropping Fury within the early going. Fury would dangle on to win a razor shut cut up choice.
In response to Lewis, Hearn mentioned in a current interview the cost of hypocrisy for supporting a “crossover” bout between Joshua and Ngannou was not legitimate as a result of Ngannou, he feels, has now distinguished himself as a worthwhile competitor. However all that’s immaterial, Hearn mentioned, as a result of the explanation the battle is going on is just because Alalshikh needed it. Alalshikh, furthermore, needs to pair the winner of Joshua vs. Ngannou with the winner of the upcoming undisputed heavyweight championship between Fury and unified champion Oleksandr Usyk.
“You possibly can’t say {that a} man that dropped Fury—and in lots of eyes’ beat him—shouldn’t be credible as an opponent,” Hearn advised Boxing Social. “I mentioned to Lennox that one of many large causes we’re taking that battle is as a result of we’ve got been advised by His Excellency that the winner of that battle fights the winner of Fury-Usyk. So we get a straight shot at undisputed. So if Fury beats Usyk, which I hope he does, and we beat Ngannou, you’ve received self-made the most important battle arguably within the historical past of the game.
“ that if Fury beats Usyk and AJ beats Ngannou, the entire world goes to go ‘Oh my God, it’s AJ-Fury for undisputed.’ So sure there are rematch clauses and contracts have gotten to be revered but additionally you recognize the imaginative and prescient of His Excellency. He’s going to need to ship for followers worldwide the most important battle in our technology and it will likely be proper on a plate in entrance of him. However Fury has received to beat Usyk first and AJ has received to beat Ngannou. And as we noticed with Wilder in opposition to Parker, issues can occur.”
Sean Nam is the writer of Homicide on Federal Avenue: Tyrone Everett, the Black Mafia, and the Final Golden Age of Philadelphia Boxing.
