Eddie Hearn claims Anthony Joshua is ‘obsessed’ with winning rematch against Usyk

"There's no shame in losing to Usyk"

Eddie Hearn has suggested that Anthony Joshua is 'obsessed' with winning his rematch bout against Oleksandr Usyk following his defeat to the Ukrainian last month.  Joshua lost to Usyk on points, with the judges scoring the fight 117-112, 116-112 and 115-113 all in favour of the cruiserweight - who became the new heavyweight champion of the world. However, Hearn has stated that whilst AJ is 'hurting like crazy' following his loss, he is also 'more determined' than he ever has been to win his next fight.

"Anthony Joshua is hurting like crazy at losing his world heavyweight belts to Oleksandr Usyk, but I have never seen him this hungry and more determined to win the rematch," said Hearn in his BBC Sport column.

"Actually, obsessed is a better word because since that fight, he has spoken about it, what he needs to do and what he needs to change, in every conversation I've had with him.

"This definitely feels different to the Andy Ruiz defeat. That was one of the biggest upsets in heavyweight history, whereas this one the gameplan was wrong and he got beaten by one of the best pound for pound fighters in the world.

"There's no shame in losing to Usyk."

The Brit's defeat to 'The Cat' has put the highly-anticipated bout between himself and Tyson Fury in doubt, with many speculating that should The Gypsy King defeat Deontay Wilder in their trilogy bout on Saturday night, a unification fight between Fury and Uysk would make the most sense.

Evidently, the prospect of this depends on the result at T-Mobile Arena at the weekend - but Hearn has no doubts that Fury will claim his second win over The Bronze Bomber.

"I think Fury wins again - this time on points," said the 42-year-old. 

"The Usyk-Joshua fight was always going to be closer than Wilder-Fury III.

"Fury is a huge favourite but Wilder has the ability to end a fight at any time.

"It's heavyweight boxing and that's why it's so exciting."

Hearn also revealed that the rematch between Joshua and Usyk would be announced in "due course", with the fight expected to take place in March or April.

Related links:

• Tyson Fury ‘wounded’ by Anthony Joshua’s loss to Oleksandr Usyk
• Tyson Fury’s promoter slams Kate Abdo for suggesting Fury and Wilder face-off
• Eddie Hearn claims Anthony Joshua was beating Usyk after eight rounds