Frank Warren reveals why Joshua will not fight Usyk at the moment
Frank Warren believes the proposed rematch between Nigeria-born Britsh Anthony Joshua with Oleksandr Usyk will not take place anytime soon because the Brit 'doesn't fancy it at the moment.
Joshua was beaten conclusively when he first locked horns with Usyk last September, failing to get close to the Ukrainian over 12 rounds and losing his unified heavyweight titles as a result.
A week after slumping to the second defeat of his professional career, AJ officially triggered his rematch clause and set his sights on revenge in 2022.
However, that rematch is still yet to be confirmed four months later, as Joshua was recently left to ponder the idea of stepping aside to allow Usyk and WBC champion Tyson Fury to battle it out for the undisputed crown.
In the end talks for the undisputed bout collapsed, which Joshua's promoter Eddie Hearn put down to Fury demanding a warm-up fight beforehand.
Yet Warren, the Gypsy King's joint-promoter, has hit back at Hearn by predicting Joshua will not follow through with his rematch against Usyk.
'He [Hearn] keeps talking about Tyson not fighting Usyk, I don't think Joshua will. That's my opinion,' the Queensberry boss said on talkSPORT.
'I don't think he fancies that rematch at the moment.
The rematch is yet to be confirmed after Usyk's recent attempt to face Tyson Fury instead
The rematch is yet to be confirmed after Usyk's recent attempt to face Tyson Fury instead
'Hearn has his hands full now, he's got that fight to get on and why does he keep banging on about what we're doing for?
'Our fight is going to be on BT Box Office, it's going to be a great fight to watch. Afterwards, they can go and watch all those shows Eddie [Hearn] is putting on his app.'
After talks over an Usyk mega-fight went flat, Fury turned his attention back to a showdown with WBC mandatory challenger Dillian Whyte.
Warren will be staging that bout after tabling a record $41million (£31million) purse bid, the biggest in the sport's history, which trumped Hearn's offer of $32million (£24million).
The 69-year-old continued: 'If he [Hearn] had his way, he'd be involved in everything. He'd have your job as well.
'What he had going for him is that he put in the highest ever purse bid, he held the record for putting in the highest ever purse bid… for 10 seconds.
'He should be delighted with that and move on. He says more about the fight than I do and I put the winning bit in.'
