Joshua wants to unify division—Hearn

Eddie Hearn, promoter for IBF, IBO, WBA
heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua (20-0,
20 KOs), says his boxer could have taken an
easier fight for the first quarter of 2018 – but
he wants to unify the division.
Anthony Joshua
Joshua is close to a finalized deal to unify his
titles with WBO world champion Joseph Parker
(24-0, 18 KOs) of New Zealand.
The fight would land on March 31, and
Principality in Cardiff, Wales is reportedly the
frontrunner to host the bout.
Joshua stands to make a large amount of
money from the bout with Parker – but Hearn
admits he could have made nearly the same
amount by making a voluntary defense against
an easier opponent.
“But he doesn’t want to do that. AJ wants to
fight champions, he wants to be the unified
champion. So this is the right fight for both of
them,” Hearn said to Stuff.
By the time the fight happens, Joshua will be
28 and Parker will be 26.
Hearn believes both boxers have placed
themselves in a position where neither one will
see their career plummet from suffering a loss
in this upcoming match.
The veteran promoter believes Parker is
certainly sitting in a nice spot – because he’s
going to make a tremendous amount of money
– win or lose – but if he wins then he’s going
to be the top dog in the weight division with
four titles.
“You don’t really lose in a fight like this … it’s a
unification for the world heavyweight titles,”
Hearn said.
“You are going to be in the mix straight off the
back of it. For AJ, he gets there a lot easier
because he is a huge name and can draw huge
money to make fights. Parker is a little bit
different but I also think that he could come
back.”
“If Joseph Parker wins he becomes probably
the biggest thing in world boxing. If he doesn’t
win he makes a lot of money but his profile
has gone through the roof and he could come
back and still be a force in the division.”