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Eddie Hearn says that Anthony Joshua is by no means overlooking his March 31 unification bout with Joseph Parker, but that as a promoter, he’s looking ahead to a potential United States debut for Joshua, the current WBA and IBF heavyweight champion.
From ESPN:
“I’ve been talking to Brett Yormark about bringing him to New York, and August would be an opportunity to do that. While the unification fight with Wilder looks to be unlikely until (Wilder) gets realistic about the split, we feel a fight in America would be beneficial to us and, in Brooklyn at Barclays Center, (Jarrell) Miller would be the guy, provided he get the win. So there’s a lot for Miller to fight for.
”In an ideal world, we’d like to see AJ’s U.S. debut in August or September. We have a strong relationship with the Barclays Center, and a fight with Miller — a kid from Brooklyn — would be an attractive fight. It’s a nice story.”
Joshua (20-0, 20 KO) is the favored main against WBO titleholder Parker (24-0, 18 KO), and will have home field advantage in Cardiff, Wales, but that’s a big fight and, as Hearn notes, not one Joshua is going to look past — at least not if he’s smart, and he’s not proven to be dumb so far.
But there has, of course, been plenty of talk, some of it from press rival Deontay Wilder, the WBC titleholder, that Joshua needs to make a splash in the United States, and as much as some may not want to hear it, and as competitive up to a certain level as the rest of the world has become, the biggest money is, in fact, still in the United States, particularly in Las Vegas.
If Joshua beats Parker and makes a successful U.S. debut, and gains further notoriety here beyond just boxing fans, an eventual clash with Wilder, if both were to stay unbeaten, to become undisputed heavyweight champion, could be worth really big bucks, more than either of them have seen to date.
As for Jarrell Miller (20-0-1, 18 KO), he’s got an HBO date on April 28 against former title challenger Johann Duhaupas.