Former unified heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua 25-3 (22) could be back in the ring before December, according to promoter Barry Hearn.
Britain’s Joshua, 33, is coming off a somewhat lacklustre 12-round unanimous points decision victory over Jermaine Franklin 21-2 (14) at the O2 Arena in London on April 1. The scores were 118-111, 117-111 and 117-111, all for the Joshua, but the bout largely lacked any sustained action.
It was Joshua’s first bout under new trainer Derrick James.
Taking to Instagram after the fight, Joshua posted: “My next fight is scheduled for December. Not ideal but everything part of a bigger picture.”
“Firstly, I think there were a few misquotes about he’s not boxing until December,” Hearn said in a video interview with Joe. “He’s thinking about not boxing until December.
“I love Anthony, but he’s on holidays at the moment. He’s having a good time. He spends his life in training camps. When you’re having a good time, you like to carry on having a good time, but I know Anthony a bit better than that.
“I won’t be 100% surprised to see a u-turn on that.
“The fight [against Jermaine Franklin] was successful as far as the job was done. I don’t think it was the best Anthony Joshua I’ve seen by a long way. There’s obviously room for improvement and big mental issues to get over, which we all know.
“We ask ourselves now: are we with him on his journey? Absolutely, yes. So I’m not going to criticise him, I’m going to understand him. There’s a lot going on in the heavyweight division and some amazing bullshit as well by s lot of people. I suppose that’s boxing in general.
“But it was a good step forward. I would love to see him have one or two more steps forward, but that’s his decision. He’s a 34-year-old grown man. He lives his life in a training camp. People have their opinions about boxers, having never lived the life they’ve lived.
“I give the decision to Anthony, but he’s quite a sensible boy. He knows he has a plan and I believe he has a way back to his best days. But I might be biased because I like him a lot. I’m not apologising for him.
“I like people who give me 100%. With Joshua, I’ve never had less. So whatever he wants to do, we’ll be in his corner.”
The comments come as Tyson Fury’s co-promotional firm Queensberry Promotions say they have not heard anything from the Joshua camp in regards to a potential matchup with the WBC heavyweight champ.
“The other side spoke a lot about wanting to reach out and contact us after the fight with Franklin; we’ve not heard anything, not had any contact, so there’s been nothing to discuss with Tyson,” George Warren told Sky Sports.
“They made it quite clear pre-Franklin fight that they wanted to maybe look at that fight for the summer. They thought maybe there was an opportunity. I haven’t heard from them. I haven’t had a phone call, I haven’t spoken to anyone about it. You’d have to ask them.”
