Eddie Hearn feared he had made huge Anthony Joshua mistake
Eddie Hearn feared he played the wrong hand when it came to signing Anthony Joshua.
Joshua has enjoyed a glittering career at the top of boxing’s heaviest division. The 35-year-old was destined for greatness after he struck gold at the Olympic Games in London back in 2012. Following his triumph on home soil, major promoters were eager to tie the Brit down.
‘AJ’ received several multi-fight deals and life-changing money. It came as no surprise, seeing as he was tipped to become the poster boy of British boxing. Joshua met up with Hearn, but the latter decided to make a real gamble. The promoter urged the boxer to take his time and meet with everyone else before making a final decision.
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It was a risky move from Hearn, especially after he did not hear from Joshua for six weeks. It was at that point 46-year-old feared the young boxer had made a slight mistake. In ‘Matchroom: The Greatest Showmen’ – which is now airing on Netflix, Hearn shared his earlier memories of Joshua.
“Anthony Joshua is definitely the most important figure in our boxing business… ever,” said Hearn. “He became Olympic champion in 2012 and every promoter in boxing wanted to represent this man… the race was on to sign Anthony Joshua. Anthony is a deep thinking, he is a gatherer of information and I never heard from him and I thought, what have you done? Then I got a message saying he wanted to come back in. He said, ‘I’ve met everyone and I want to sign with you, that changed out company forever and we’ve shared some moments with AJ.”
Hearn’s father, Barry – who is the founder and president of the Matchroom empire – followed up on his son’s comments and admits he too was itching to sign the Brit. “I was desperate to sign him straight away and Eddie said no,” he admitted. “Give him some time, let him come to us. It was about a year and Joshua had been around every operator in the world.”
The Hearns have since stuck with Joshua after the British boxing sensation penned a deal with the promotion in October 2013. On the topic of the Hearn family, Joshua said: “Matchroom are family run business, Barry, the Godfather, what he’s achieved coming from a council estate like myself, I take my hat off to him. One thing I do want is to buy that house, the Matchroom office from him, that’s one of my goals. Eddie is good at what he does and I’m good at what I do. I’m like the artwork that goes on the wall and Eddie’s there to sell the art, but if I was a bad boxer, Eddie would not make the time for me.”
Joshua has enjoyed some memorable moments under the guidance of Matchroom. After making his professional debut in 2013, ‘AJ’ quickly rose up the ranks across the regional scene, but it was evident early on that he was able to compete with some of the best in the world at heavyweight.
The 35-year-old first became a world champion in 2016, knocking out Charles Martin in the second round. Joshua went on to defend the title multiple times and pick up more hardware along the way with wins over the likes of Wladimir Klitschko, Carlos Takam, Joseph Parker and Alexander Povetkin.
He suffered the first defeat of his career in 2019 after he was stopped by Andy Ruiz Jr in New York. That said, he went on to get his revenge in the immediate rematch, before eventually going head-to-head with Oleksandr Usyk on two separate occasions in 2021 and 2022, respectively. Despite losing both outings, Joshua regained some sort of momentum with wins over Jermaine Franklin, Robert Helenius, Otto Wallin and Francis Ngannou. ‘AJ’ has not fought since losing to Daniel Dubois last September. The two-time heavyweight champion is expected to return early next year in what could be his final year as a boxer.
