Eddie Hearn has admitted he nearly forfeited the chance to sign Anthony Joshua before he became a two-time world champion.
Joshua has embarked on a top level heavyweight career which has seen him rise to become unified world champion on two occasions while taking on some of the division's top talent. It has been nine years since Joshua made his debut after turning over following his Olympic gold medal glory at the London 2012 Games.
Hearn has since marketed Joshua as arguably the biggest star on his roster, with Joshua selling out a whole host of stadiums in the UK including Wembley Stadium and most recently the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Joshua will next take on Oleksandr Usyk in a bid to become three-time champion in a revenge mission that will be staged in Saudi Arabia next month.
The Matchroom Boxing kingpin has revealed that he was asked to stand up in court and address the potential of Joshua before going on to sign him to the roster. "One day I was in the office and I got a letter on my desk and it was from an amateur boxing club who said there is a young heavyweight who has found himself in trouble," Hearn said during an interview with British GQ when addressing how he elected to sign Joshua.
"It said he was going to appear in court and we would like you to come to court and tell everyone about the potential of this young fighter. I had never heard of him so I put it straight in the bin. A couple of months later I went to Sheffield, which is home of the British boxing team.
"And I will never will forget it I heard this noise and it was the sound of the heavy bag and the creaking of a man taking it off his hinges. So I said 'who is that?' The trainer said 'Anthony Joshua' and I quickly remembered that was the letter I put in the bin. I didn't tell him about the letter and then he went on and won Olympic gold. We share a close relationship and he is someone I admire a lot."
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Joshua went on to launch a tremendous heavyweight career becoming British, European and Commonwealth champion before winning his first world title against Charles Martin. He went on to unify the division further before defeating boxing legend Wladimir Klitschko in an epic war.
The British star has since gone on to face the likes of Alexander Povetkin, Andy Ruiz Jr and most recently Ukrainian star Usyk who handed Joshua the second defeat of his career. Despite his latest loss, Joshua's stock remains high and if he can pull off a revenge victory, he will likely set up the hotly-anticipated showdown with rival Tyson Fury for the undisputed titles.
