Anthony Joshua to make decision over his next opponent in ‘seven to 10 days’, says Barry Hearn

Hearn, the father of Joshua’s promoter Eddie, believes that the heavyweight world champion holds the cards when it comes to negotiating his next bout

Anthony Joshua is close to finalising plans for his next fight (Getty)

Anthony Joshua will decide who his next opponent is “in the next seven to 10 days”, according to the father of his promoter, as he weighs up facing his mandatory challenger Alexander Povetkin or chase a heavyweight title unification showdown with Deontay Wilder.

WBO, IBF and WBA heavyweight champion Joshua faces a dilemma over his next opponent, having beaten New Zealand Joseph Parker in his last outing to claim the WBO strap and continue on his desired path towards unifying the division. That would of course involve fighting Wilder, the current WBC champion, but talks with the American’s camp have proven at best, frustrating, and at worst, a complete farce.

What looked to be a $50m offer to fight Joshua from Wilder transpired to be nothing more than a publicity stunt, with Joshua’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, flying out to the United States for talks that were inevitably cancelled. As Hearn publically said: no contract, no proof of money, no genuine offer.

Joshua still wants the Wilder fight, but the WBA want him to fight their mandatory challenger Povetkin, who brutally knocked out another Briton in David Price on the undercard of Joshua vs Parker. With other names such as Jarrell Miller and Kubrat Pulev in the frame, and a possible rematch with Dillian Whyte, Joshua has a lot of options on the table, but Hearn’s father, Barry, has revealed that he is close to finalising his plans.

"Anthony Joshua calls the shots," said Hearn. "He has a choice. I think his preference is Alexander Povetkin for his mandatory, Jarrell Miller is in the top five, and Deontay Wilder.

"They're his three main choices and I expect him to make his mind up in the next seven to 10 days. He's a smart young man and the final decision is always made by him."

Hearn, who founded Matchroom Sport, the company that promotes Joshua, also cast doubt on whether Wilder has the money to deliver on his promise of a $50m showdown with Joshua, given that they are yet to see any concrete evidence of the money.

"It's very strange, because we've never had an offer from Wilder's management, but we've had an offer from Wilder,” Hearn added.

Joshua was ‘offered’ $50m to fight Deontay Wilder in a heavyweight title unification bout (Getty)

"He said he'd give us $50m, but I don't think he's got $50m. There was no contract.

"They said we had to agree the deal first - it's all very peculiar so we give it no substance at all. Whether they like it or not, [Joshua] is the commercial value of the fight, pretty much no-one knows Deontay Wilder in America and pretty much no-one knows Anthony Joshua there either, but we bring an awful lot to the table."