Anthony Joshua’s next fight could be a surprise rematch with Joseph Parker, the British heavyweight’s promoter Eddie Hearn has said.
Hearn recently said Joshua is recovering from an injury sustained following his fifth-round knockout by Daniel Dubois in September, an issue preventing him from training at full throttle.
“AJ” has not fought since being dropped several times and stopped by Dubois at Wembley, but the 35-year-old hoped to agree a long-awaited clash with Tyson Fury, only for that to collapse when his British rival announced his retirement.
Since then, Usyk has been ordered to defend his unified belts against WBO mandatory challenger Parker, yet Hearn believes Usyk could still have a rematch with Dubois next – leaving Parker and Joshua to square off.
“There was a niggle after the Dubois fight,” Hearn told Sky Sports. “[Joshua] went back into camp and he’s just not ready to start punching yet with the same ferocity that he needs to.
“There are two fights for AJ that really stoke the fire. One is the rematch with Daniel Dubois and the other one is Tyson Fury, which is out of our control at the moment. We hope that something can kickstart that fight, but that’s down to Tyson.
“If he doesn’t fight one of those two guys, he has to fight someone else, and he’s going to want to fight someone in the top 10.
“And Joseph Parker right now is on one of the hottest runs. If Dubois doesn’t fight Usyk, I’d like to see him fight Parker as well, because Joe deserves a shot at the world heavyweight title.
“If there’s a big unification fight, undisputed, then Joe’s going to need another dance partner – and maybe it’s a Joshua rematch.”
Joshua beat Parker, 33, in 2018, outpointing the New Zealander to hand him a first professional defeat.
