Anthony Joshua has
triggered a rematch clause and will face Oleksandr Usyk in an attempt to retain
his world heavyweight titles, his promoter Eddie Hearn said on DAZN on Saturday
night.
“He’s got his head
back in the game, he’s training now and today we officially triggered the
rematch for the Oleksandr Usyk fight which we’ll see early next spring” Hearn
stated.
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Last month, Joshua
lost his IBF, WBA, and WBO titles to Usyk in a unanimous decision at Tottenham
Hotspur Stadium.
According to
Hearn, an out-of-sorts Joshua sulked in the aftermath, but the 31-year-head
old’s is now fully back in the game and ready to face the Ukrainian as his next
opponent, maybe in March.
“Back in the game
and looking for him to become a three-time heavyweight world champion.”
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“That’s officially
triggered now and we’ll sit down with K2, Usyk’s promoters to plan the dates for that.” “I think
realistically March is when you’re likely to see the rematch.”
In regard to
critics who advised he should begin with a warm-up fight, he said. Hearn said, “I
think they said that about the Andy Ruiz Jr fight as well.”
“That was a
different kind of loss. To be honest, that was a humiliating defeat in front of
20,000 at Madison Square Garden.”
“This was a
disappointing loss to a pound-for-pound great. He got it wrong on the night.
The strategy was wrong, the execution of the game plan was wrong, but you can’t
take away from the brilliance of Oleksandr Usyk.”
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‘If you’re a
winner, you don’t wanna be in ten-round fights, you don’t wanna be just trying
to get back in the game. For me, he’s still the best heavyweight in the world.”
“He didn’t perform
that night, he’s gotta go back there, rip the belts off Oleksandr Usyk, and that’s
the only thing he wants.”