Eddie Hearn believes Anthony Joshua is more popular than Tyson Fury despite the heavyweight losing his world titles last year.
Joshua was comprehensively outpointed by Oleksandr Usyk in London last September as he relinquished his three belts for the second time in three fights. The rivals will meet again later this month in Saudi Arabia as Joshua attempts to become a three-time champion.
Meanwhile, Fury continued his reign as the best heavyweight in the world by stopping Deontay Wilder in their trilogy fight before handing out the same punishment to Dillian Whyte at Wembley earlier this year. Fury insists he is now retired, but is expected to return to face the winner of Joshua's sequel with Usyk.
Regardless, Hearn, who promotes Joshua, believes his man is the bigger star. “ Tyson Fury isn’t the biggest draw in boxing, AJ still is," he told GQ Hype. "But yes – he’s a huge star. But I am loyal to AJ, and I think Fury knew that when I was discussing signing him when he was 400lbs pounds. He knew AJ would be my No.1, and that would have been difficult. But you never know what could happen in the future."
Joshua will start as the underdog against Usyk in Jeddah having overhauled his coaching team for the must-win rematch. And Hearn admitted his star signing is under huge pressure to deliver in the desert. "There’s a lot of pressure in AJ’s world," he added. "I feel like he’s lived in this bubble for a long time. AJ doesn’t go out, really. He trains. He goes back to one of his houses. He sees his mates, does a bit of motocross, plays a bit of FIFA. But that’s it.
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"When you live in that world and you suffer defeat, it's very lonely. Everyone turns on you. The adulation that you received from the public turns to ‘oh you lost mate, you ain’t actually that good, you’re useless.’ And I feel that he's a very proud man. But I had several meetings with him almost immediately after, and he is one of those people who just wants to put it right."
Joshua first lost his belts when he was stopped by Andy Ruiz Jr in 2019 in one of the biggest upsets in the sport's history. He won his titles back six months later in Saudi Arabia before successfully defending them against Kubrat Pulev the following year.
Read the full feature with Eddie Hearn online at GQ Hype now
