Eddie Hearn says Anthony Joshua would be ready to step in to face either Tyson Fury or Oleksandr Usyk if the pair are unable to rematch in October.
Joshua was ringside in Riyadh on Saturday, as his former foe Usyk edged out Fury to become undisputed heavyweight champion.
Fury and Usyk are locked into a contractual rematch which is supposed to take place in October.
Although, following a gruelling fight which saw both men suffer significant damage, Hearn insists ‘AJ’ would be ready if one of his rivals was unavailable for October.
“If one of those guys [Fury or Usyk] don’t fight this year,” the 44-year-old said on The MMA Hour.
“Someone has got to do something.
“If Oleksandr Usyk is not ready in October and says, ‘no look the jaw’s not good, I won’t be actually ready until February or March’.
“Why not make Fury against AJ?
“If Fury’s not ready to fight, AJ would have another crack at Usyk no problem.
“Anything can happen at this stage, but of course the rematch is huge, so I would guess that is the next move for both men.”
Joshua though is expected to return on either September 20/21 at Wembley Stadium against the winner of the upcoming clash between Daniel Dubois and Filip Hrgovic on the Matchroom vs Queensberry 5vs5 card on June 1.
The IBF are likely to strip Usyk of his belt imminently and the title could be on the line for Dubois vs Hrgovic – proboxing-fans.com have reached out to the IBF for comment.
Hearn admits his charge is more likely to face the victor of Dubois vs Hrgovic before fighting the winner of the Fury vs Usyk rematch, should he emerge victorious.
On Tuesday, Fury’s promoter, Frank Warren told talkSPORT that Fury will take the rematch against Usyk in October.
“AJ is pencilled in to fight on that Wembley date,” the Matchroom Chairman added.
“It’s going to be interesting to see what happens with the IBF belt now.
“Because, obviously when you become undisputed, you have all these mandatories.
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“It’s very difficult to get the chronological order right to defend them all and next up is Filip Hrgovic.
“There is a very strong chance that that belt will free up.
“Potentially, Hrgovic could even fight Dubois in the 5vs5 coming up for the IBF world title and maybe the winner fights AJ at Wembley on September 21 and then when AJ wins that, becomes a three-time world heavyweight champion and fights the winner of Fury-Usyk, it’s for undisputed all over again.”
