Anthony Joshua's promoter, Eddie Hearn, has admitted the heavyweight "lost faith" after title-fight negotiations with Tyson Fury collapsed again.
Joshua lost in his revenge bid against Oleksandr Usyk in Saudi Arabia back in August, which saw him frozen out of the heavyweight world title picture for the first time in several years. The British star then looked as if he would be handed an opportunity to reclaim a world crown when bitter rival Fury offered him a shot at his WBC crown on December 3.
However, negotiations collapsed despite Joshua accepting the deal, with Derek Chisora instead the new opponent to step up to the plate at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. And Hearn has admitted the 31-year-old was extremely frustrated with the situation, which saw him miss out on his shot at Fury for the second time.
"He just sort of lost faith a little bit with boxing because he really wanted to fight Tyson Fury," Hearn said during an interview with Boxing Social when assessing his client's attitude to the sport after losing his opportunity to face Fury. "That’s the main reason that he didn’t fight this year. He was just pissed off. You know, he [Fury] got his bluff called really, we feel. What are these people doing?
"They say they want to fight me, now I’ve got a deadline, Chisora gets another month to do the deal, and I had to sign it then. So, that’s why you’re going to see him [AJ] fight maybe the end of February, but probably March."
'AJ' has struggled with inactivity for several years, having only fought five times since defeating Alexander Povetkin in 2018.
Three of those fights since that day have ended in defeat, including his two against Usyk and one against Andy Ruiz Jr in 2019. Joshua is eyeing a more active 2023 and has been heavily linked with a rematch against Dillian Whyte and a potential mega-fight with Deontay Wilder.
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The former two-time champion has admitted he wants to continue taking risks by fighting the best despite having already suffered back-to-back defeats. "As much as it's about becoming a champion, I always felt like it was important for me to fight the best in my era," Joshua said when assessing his plans for 2023.
"Because there was this whole stigma about cherry-picking. If you want to get to get to the top, you have to take risks - calculated risks - but you definitely have to take risks. And I just like taking risks. It's not how popular a fighter you are that makes you a good fighter, it's how good a fighter you are that will make you popular."
