LAND OF OPPORTUNITY
Eddie Hearn opens up about his plans to dominate the American market
RUSSIA’S Alexander Povetkin, and not Deontay Wilder, looks likely to be the next opponent for WBA, IBF and WBO heavyweight champion, Anthony Joshua. Eddie Hearn told Boxing News “there are now frequent conversations” between the Joshua and Wilder camps, alongside mounting pressure from the WBA to fulfil the mandatory defence against Povetkin
“They [Barry Hearn and Wilder’s manager Shelly Finkel] met on Friday, they emailed us on Monday morning and we are getting back to them,” Hearn said. “All I can say is that I think this fight will get signed but it’s whether we fight Povetkin first.
“I think it [ Joshua-wilder] will get done but the WBA are asking us every day and we are extending this negotiation period all the time,” he continued. “I think we have to make a call by the end of the week really. I have been saying two weeks for two weeks. Povetkin needs to know and so do the WBA.”
It is most likely that Joshua will defend his heavyweight titles against Povetkin, in September, and then meet Wilder in 2019.
“At the moment, we are fighting Povetkin,” Hearn said. “We want to fight in September but September doesn’t work with Wilder because of Showtime. If we fight Wilder [first] it would probably be October or November but if we fight Povetkin it will be September.” Wembley Stadium is a possible venue and so is the Olympic Stadium and Twickenham. Other dates under consideration are September 15 or 22 but Hearn noted, “The 8th is available at Old Trafford [in Manchester].
“That’s 15 weeks away now so to do a Wilder fight, you’d want to give it the build-up it deserves,” Hearn continued. “If Povetkin is September then Wilder probably won’t happen until February.”
He maintained, “I really do think the Wilder fight will happen but it’s just whether or not it’s next. It won’t be any more than the one after Povetkin, that’s the maximum wait.”
Hearn added that he’s closing in on the signatures of eight unnamed fighters as part of his US deal with streaming platform, DAZN, and is continuing to chase the likes of Jermell and Jermall Charlo, Mikey Garcia and Julio Cesar Chavez Jnr. Interest in Adrien Broner, though, has cooled after the controversial American publicly snubbed Hearn’s opening offer.
“I only want one, two, three max major names,” Hearn said. “My selling point is, you’re going to be the focus of the platform,” Hearn said. “Do we have a Mikey Garcia, or a Charlo or a Broner yet? No. But we don’t want too many of them. We only want one or two. Talks are ongoing with Mikey Garcia, we had a brilliant meeting and he’s extremely interested. He’ll fight [Robert] Easter on the 23rd then we’ll pick up talks for him to box potentially on the platform in November. The Charlos there’s an ongoing conversation with… They want ‘Lions Only’ promotions to be Mayweather promotions. As I said to them, we have no problem working with ‘Lions Only’ promotions. They just need a promoter. So does Mikey Garcia.” For more, go to boxingnewsonline.net
‘IF POVETKIN IS SEPTEMBER THEN WILDER WILL LIKELY BE IN FEBRUARY’