Boxing
Written by
Alla Zakarian
31-12-2019 | 17:52 • Boxing
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"What if Anthony Joshua vacates both belts?" – Eddie Hearn
Eddie Hearn is frustrated at the IBF and WBO failing to decide which of their mandatory challengers will go first in 2020 in challenging heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua.
According to the promoter, it might be better for Joshua (23-1, 21 KOs) to just vacate his IBF and WBO belts, and hold onto the WBA strap.
“It’s going to come to a head in three weeks. It makes you start to think, ‘What if he [Joshua] vacates both belts?’ Just have the WBA,” said Hearn to SI Boxing with Chris Mannix.
“Does it really matter? I mean, he’s still going to be world heavyweight champion, and he’s still going to be the biggest draw in the sport, and he’s still going to be fighting great fights in the heavyweight division. And there will be less aggravation, and less sanctioning fees."
“That’s why [Wladimir] Klitschko had so many poor fights,” Hearn said in talking about the negative that came from Wladimir holding onto 3 world titles at the same time. “He fought Tony Thompson twice as the mandatory challenger. AJ doesn’t want to vacate a belt. He [Joshua] wants to fight everybody, but what I think is unfair is two governing bodies [IBF and WBO] saying, ‘You’ve got to choose between us or drop a belt.’
“We don’t know if [Bob] Arum will lose his marbles, and think, ‘Oh, I don’t like Eddie Hearn at the moment.’ He might be really difficult to make a deal, and AJ might say, ‘I’m not interested.’ Then maybe he vacates that belt [IBF]."
Source- boxingnews24
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