ANTHONY JOSHUA said to Eddie Hearn that he would rather defeat Oleksandr Usyk than stand aside for Tyson Fury.
Joshua has been contracted to an immediate rematch against Ukrainian after being dethroned from the WBA, IBF, and WBO titles in September.
Oleksandr Usyk beat Anthony Joshua in September
However, there was pressure from the Middle East to allow Usyk instead to fight Fury in the first ever four-belt heavyweight undisputed title decider.
Joshua was therefore offered a step-aside payment to Saudi Arabia for unification, but the deal fell apart.
Hearn stated on The MMA Hour that "the only thing I was interested in because there was a lot on the table was this deal, but there is no other fight."
"Again, that fight is the one, and that fight was what AJ wanted. He will make adjustments to his training group.
"But when he sat down last Monday to discuss the step aside, He said, 'I will beat Usyk.
"I said, "But you haven’t started working with the new trainer yet." He replied, "I’ll beat him without having a trainer."
"He is pumped to fight and it will be a tough fight," said the fighter.
Free Bets: Get more than PS2,000 in NEW CUSTOMER DEALSAccording to reports, Joshua, 32, and Fury’s mandatory challenger Dillian Youte, 33, had made separate step-aside agreements.
Talks broke down at the eleventh hour, meaning that AJ will now be able to rematch Usyk in the summer.
Fury, 33 years old, will now defend his title against Whyte in Cardiff, scheduled for April 23.
The Gypsy King's side claimed that AJ demanded PS3.7m for a sit-out, which led to the deal being canceled.
Hearn retorted and said Fury wanted a warm up fight before Usyk (35), and that he didn't want to face the southpaw.
He stated, "By and large Fury is not a mug. He is aware of how great Usyk can be. He knew that Usyk was a formidable opponent.
"He's really great. It's a difficult fight for AJ. I hope that AJ is given credit for all the fights he has taken.
"How many fighters would take the Usyk fight if Joshua was there?"
"How many would have taken off the belt and said, "Oh, no, we're going to another way."
"He wanted this fight and now he's fighting him straight off the bat. We're looking forward to fighting in the UK in May.
Did you miss our previous article...
https://secondsaway.co.uk/boxing/floyd-mayweather-44-is-faster-than-his-protege-gervonta-and-still-lives-up-to-its-name-his-sparring-partner-said
