Eddie Hearn has hit back at Tyson Fury for ‘goading’ Anthony Joshua after his split-decision defeat to Oleksandr Usyk on Saturday night, while he defended the Brit’s post-fight outburst.
The 32-year-old gave an improved showing in Jeddah but was ultimately outclassed once again by his Ukrainian adversary over 12 rounds, with Usyk retaining his WBA, IBF and WBO heavyweight belts.
Afterwards, Joshua appeared to yell at the governing bodies in attendance and tossed Usyk’s belts out of the ring before storming off, only to return moments later to grab the microphone and give a bizarre rant.
In his post-fight press conference, Joshua also broke down in tears and promoter Hearn feels his fighter’s emotional reaction was simply his frustrations – both at losing and towards the governing bodies – boiling over.
‘He was frustrated. He’s held onto those belts for a long time and those governing bodies have charged him a lot of money and put a lot of mandatories on him,’ Hearn told iFL TV.
‘And I think he’s lost a lot of faith in the system and I think he’s started to actually not be interested in fighting for belts anymore.
‘I think he just wants to fight for enjoyment and just to challenge himself. Of course he wanted to be undisputed, and a lot of that was just frustration.
‘And he left the ring, because he knew “I’m going to do something stupid here” and then he thought to himself “I can’t, because it’s a bad look” so he went back in the ring and he gave a speech – which was a little bit out there. But it was just pure emotion, and that was from the heart.’
Immediately after Usyk defeated Joshua, WBC champion Tyson Fury slammed the contest, describing it as ‘one of the worst heavyweight title fights’ he had ever seen before appearing to unretire – again – and claiming he would ‘annihilate’ both fighters ‘on the same night’.
Hearn was far from impressed with Fury’s comments, and says a supposed mental health advocate should have more sympathy for Joshua rather than kicking a man when he’s down.
Asked about Fury’s insults, Hearn replied: ‘Na, listen, this is a proper man here [Joshua], you know what I mean? A proper man who don’t talk s**t, doesn’t tell lies, he gives everybody his time.
‘I don’t know Tyson Fury well enough. This guy here [AJ] is my friend, he’s a great individual, he gave everything tonight. If you want to goad him for that then you are what you are.’
Asked again in a separate interview about Fury, Hearn said: ‘You saw the reaction of [Joshua] there. In Tyson Fury, this is a guy who openly says he’s had all these mental health problems and struggles, stuff like that.
‘You see a guy [AJ] up there crying, as big and strong as AJ, who for years has put on a brave face. And tonight you just saw chinks in the armour.
‘So if you want to see a guy who’s been through this “mental health” experience and goading someone when they’re down and when they’re devastated, that shows you the kind of man he [Fury] is.’
MORE : ‘Who the f**k you talking to?’ – Anthony Joshua furiously reacts backstage after being told to ‘keep it professional’
MORE : ‘Get your chequebook out!’ – Tyson Fury reacts to Oleksandr Usyk’s win over Anthony Joshua with message for both fighters
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