sport news Eddie Hearn ready to make Tyson Fury vs Anthony Joshua if Oleksandr Usyk fight ... trends now
Eddie Hearn will look to revive talks for a long-awaited showdown between Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua after the former's bout against Oleksandr Usyk fell through.
Fury and Usyk's proposed mega-fight, which promised to crown the first undisputed heavyweight champion since 2000, was pronounced dead on Wednesday evening after the Ukrainian's team threw in the towel following months of strenuous negotiations.
Despite boasting three of the four recognised world championships, Usyk accepted a questionable 70-30 purse split out of his favour in order to seal it, only for Fury to allegedly throw several other demands into the mix.
Usyk's promoter Alexander Krassyuk now insists their April 29 battle at Wembley is off the cards as his man has grown tired of the Gypsy King's antics, which leaves both men free to defend their titles elsewhere.
And Hearn, whose own negotiations with Fury's team hit a snag at the end of last year, believes Usyk's loss could well prove Joshua's gain if he gets past Jermaine Franklin at The O2 next weekend.
Eddie Hearn is ready to revive talks for Tyson Fury (L) to face Anthony Joshua (R) this year
Fury's proposed undisputed battle with Oleksandr Usyk (R) has been pronounced dead
Hearn told Sportsmail on Wednesday that he now wants to make Fury vs Joshua happen
'The AJ fight is worth so much more financially to Tyson Fury than the Usyk fight,' he told Sportsmail. 'So for me, the way I'm looking at it is, if AJ does a job on Franklin I would like to go straight into the Tyson Fury fight.
'We've already got the terms. We've got the basis of that fight agreed, which we would still accept coming through a victory on April 1st, and I would like to make AJ against [Fury] and I would make that now.
Speaking before official confirmation that Fury v Usyk was off, Hearn added: 'If that Usyk fight [with Fury] doesn't get over the line, I'll sit down with George Warren and I will thrash out a deal to get that fight over the line.
'But [Joshua] still has to win April 1st. He's coming back from those defeats, it's a very tough fight. I'm nervous, but hopefully he can make a statement and then call out Tyson Fury after that.
'Josh also his reservations
