ANTHONY JOSHUA will face a “a quality opponent” on December 17 at Wembley Arena after his fight with Tyson Fury collapsed.
AJ’s Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn officially declared that the star’s proposed Battle of Britain on December 3 with the WBC champ was OFF after a breakdown in negotiations.
Fury initially wanted to unify the belts against Oleksandr Usyk, 35, who twice beat Joshua, but the Ukrainian hero ruled himself out until next year in order to rest and recover having returned home to his loved ones for the first time.
That led to the Gypsy King surprisingly calling out AJ and offering him a 60/40 financial split in his favour.
Contracts were being exchanged by promoters, all while the Fury grew increasingly frustrated.
He originally set a deadline on 5pm on Monday, September 26 but then extended it by a couple of days.
Hearn claimed he returned a final revised contract last week but had not heard from Frank Warren's son George and has now declared the fight dead but remains open to reviving talks.
However, although he did not reveal who the two-time heavyweight opponent’s would be, Hearn has now revealed that AJ plans to be back in action against a top 20 contender before Christmas.
His revelation came while discussing the Fury issues with iFL TV, where he said: “Ultimately, the fight couldn’t get made now. Can it get made? Yes, 100 percent.
“We were told categorically by Mr. Fury that the fight was dead, and there was no way he was taking the fight.
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“From AJ’s point of view, I don’t think he wants to engage with him, and we were told that twice. One was the final, final time.
“We’ll look at dates and venues. December 17th is a date that we like.
“The venue option isn’t great for December 17th. Wembley Arena is a great arena, but in terms of size, I think it holds 10,000, 11,000. But AK wants to get out. He’s been training hard.
“December 3rd was never an ideal date, and someone started playing that back to me like me saying that last night. ‘Look, see, it was never an ideal date.’ I’ve said that a million times.
“We wanted December 17th. They [Team Fury] told us, ‘no. The only way you’re going to get the fight is December 3rd,’ and AJ said, ‘I’m willing to fight on that date.’
“It gives him a little more time because he’s still coming off a defeat over 12 rounds against the pound-for-pound #1 [Usyk]. So, he’ll continue, and we’ll keep playing.”
Hearn added: “He [Joshua] accepted it was done with last Monday when Tyson Fury came out publicly and abused him and said, ‘The fights off.’ Then when he did it again on Thursday and said, ‘The fights off, get to the back of the queue with all the others, you big dosser.’
“How many times have you got to say it before the other bloke to say, ‘Do you know what? Leave it.’
“But then it’s like, they never came calling back after he said that. No, he didn’t. It’s alright because, as John said, we cost AJ £110m.”
