Anthony Joshua v Jermaine Franklin: Eddie Hearn wants to make Tyson Fury fight if all goes to plan at the O2 Arena

Former two-time world heavyweight champion Joshua begins his comeback trail on Saturday when he faces Jermaine Franklin at O2 Arena in London. He will be eyeing a first victory since 2020 and if victorious, the rewards could be great with Fury, Deontay Wilder and old rival Dillian Whyte all viable options in the coming months.

While Hearn retains a degree of confidence that a Battle of Britain with Fury could get made for late summer, he accepted the United States market is another real option for his prize asset. Now based in Dallas, Joshua’s only previous appearance in America resulted in a shock defeat to Andy Ruiz Jr at New York’s Madison Square Garden in 2019.

“You could say he lives there now, he trains there and I think there is a little bit of unfinished business in America,” Hearn told the PA news agency. “The experience of Madison Square Garden was unbelievable but when you look at the fights out there, it is only the Wilder fight that could appeal to the US market in my opinion. We’ll see what happens on Saturday but for me I would like to make the Fury fight if he wins. Neither guy would have a fight, the politics would be gone and it might be a chance to get it made, but we’ve been there before so we’ll see what happens on Saturday.”

Fury and IBF, WBO and WBA Oleksandr Usyk were set to fight on April 29 with a 70-30 split in favour of the WBC champion, but talks officially ended last week to thwart efforts to put all the belts on the line at Wembley. It has opened the door for Joshua to step up but talks between the two teams have twice fallen through. Joshua has no qualms with Fury being the “people’s champion”, but the 33-year-old knows his own worth.

“He’s a people’s champion, he’s a people’s champion,” Joshua admitted. “Remember I put a lot of effort into pushing the heavyweight division into a healthy place early on in my career. I understood the concept of marketing and PR and it shows in the figures right? It shows in the figures with brand partnerships and stuff. It didn’t happen easily but yeah, he’s a people’s champion, I’m a people’s champion. There is no competition in that sense.

“The only competition I need to have with him is in the ring.”

Joshua added: “If he is doing 70-30 for an undisputed cruiserweight fighter and heavyweight champion unified, what is he going to try and offer me? It is just a nightmare but look, I have a great team in my corner. I have a great promotional company, great management company that help me. I don’t make all the decisions myself. I am in the gym.

“When that fight – God willing – happens, they will back my corner and they know what I bring to the table. They will negotiate fiercely to make sure I get a lion’s share as well as what’s on the table. I will leave it to them to do their best to represent me in the right fashion.”