Eddie Hearn can be forgiven for being a little forgetful as the Matchroom boss ranked the top heavyweight in the world.
Having just witnessed Anthony Joshua knock out an MMA fighter with one punch, a giddy Hearn got a bit too excitable. Standing next to his long-time friend and star boxer, Hearn made an eyebrow-raising claim when in a heightened emotional state.
“You are looking at the baddest man on the planet. The number one heavyweight in the world,” declared Hearn, seemingly forgetting the actual order of the heavyweight ratings.
Even with his second-round obliteration of Francis Ngannou, Joshua is unequivocally and undoubtedly ranked number three.
Anthony Joshua is the third-best heavyweight
Hearn seems to have let the fact that three-belt unified champion Oleksandr Usyk beat Joshua twice, once in 2021 and another time in 2022. Looking at the WBN list, cited through the Pound for Pound Top 50, Usyk is by far the world’s number one top division operator. It’s not even close, as Usyk is the number three fighter on the planet behind Naoya Inoue and Terence Crawford.
Fury is at number 22, and Joshua is at 24, leaving Hearn with some considerable egg on his face. The Essex man did, however, acknowledge Tyson Fury at ringside soon after his statement.
But his words were telling when he begged Fury to beat Usyk, obviously not fancying Joshua’s chances against the Ukrainian a third time.
“There’s a brilliant fighter down there in Tyson Fury. Please beat Oleksandr Usyk because you will get the biggest fight of all time,” he stated.
In his post-fight interview, Joshua wasn’t as enthusiastic about beating a UFC fighter as Hearn was.
Not buzzing
“It’s not that satisfying. It is what it is,” said Joshua. “My life doesn’t really change. You realize how much your life changes when you lose; when you win, it’s onto the next.
“I questioned myself. It’s a tough game, the heavyweight division. We got the job done, and people can question me. I do my best every time, but I’m not even buzzing about the win; onto the next, let’s go.”
On his opponent being wiped out, AJ added: “With Ngannou tonight, if I were the old AJ, it would have been strength versus strength. This was a fight that would have taken years out of my career. But because of my progression and my sacrifice, I’ve been able to go in there and take little punishment.
“You have to be a student of the game to put on performances like that. It doesn’t do much for my career.”
On facing Fury or possibly Usyk again, Joshua concluded: “If they want me, they can knock at my door. I want to be my best every time. Nothing changes for me. If they knock on the door, I say let’s go.”
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