Former bantamweight boxer Spencer Oliver has recently given his opinion on Anthony Joshua’s 2023 career plan. Oliver believes that the public will not accept anything less than the best from Joshua.
Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn revealed a 2023 fight schedule for Anthony Joshua earlier this week, indicating that Deontay Wilder could be the first opponent Joshua faces in the new year.
In a recent interview on the DAZN boxing show, Hearn shared some details on what’s next for Joshua, who recently suffered two back-to-back defeats at the hands of the greatest Ukrainian boxer of all time, Oleksandr Usyk.
“The plan now is to rebuild him to become a three-time heavyweight world champion,” said Eddie.
Eddie Hearn says Anthony Joshua is "nailed on" to fight Tyson Fury or Deontay Wilder this year 👀
Who would you like to see him fight first? Would he win?#BBCBoxing pic.twitter.com/cMK4vZ94E9
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) January 3, 2023
Hearn believes that there should be a well-organized plan for AJ because he has lost two of his last two fights and he needs to have a fight through which he can gain his confidence back. Because of this, the British promoter believes that a bout between Joshua and Dillian Whyte could be the best possible choice at this time.
“It’s all very well being brave, listening to Twitter, going out, and fighting Deontay Wilder [next] and doing this and doing that, but there has to be a plan, a smart plan. A smart plan is he wants to return against a top 15 guy in a credible fight and return in the summer against probably Dillian Whyte and then move forward against Deontay Wilder or Tyson Fury in a mega fight in the ultimate 2023.” Eddie added.
Oliver, on the other hand, has a different point of view and thinks that Joshua’s career could be in jeopardy if he takes a fight just for the purpose of warming up or as a way to get his confidence back. In a recent interview with Boxing Social, Oliver expressed his concern regarding AJ’s long-term career advancement.
“So, for Anthony Joshua, he needs to get himself back into the mix sooner rather than later. I get that he needs a warm up fight for confidence building and to adjust to the new trainer.”
🗣️ “I’m dying for the world championship. That’s all my heart and soul is leading towards.”@anthonyjoshua talks through his targets for the new year 💪 pic.twitter.com/Qkv4xMTaPB
— 258MGT (@258mgt) December 24, 2022
However, the former professional boxer did not completely discount Dillian Whyte because he believes that this could ultimately be beneficial for AJ, which is the only thing that matters, and the British people would love to see a fight between these two.
“Dillian Whyte makes sense because they have got history together and it’s a fight the British public would pay to see. Then we need the big fight from him, I think we can allow him that.We can allow him the comeback fight, the Dillian Whyte fight and then I think we need to see him in a big fight against a Fury or a Wilder. Anything less than that, and the public won’t accept it.”
Oliver also reminded that AJ must fight Fury in huge matches as soon as possible after finishing his fight with Dillian Whyte because otherwise, the public won’t accept anything less.
