Bakole or Wilder? Hearn denies Joshua has agreed next fight

Anthony Joshua hasn’t agreed to his next fight, according to Eddie Hearn, who claims the heavyweight hasn’t spoken to any of his rivals.

According to speculation on social media, Joshua might face Deontay Wilder or Martin Bakole next.

No concrete plans are in place, according to Matchroom promoter Hearn, 35, who is coming off a knockout loss to IBF champion Daniel Dubois in a all-British match.

“If you look at Twitter]X], he’s signed and agreed to fight Martin Bakole. It’s all signed for Wilder against Joshua on June 7th, 2018, right? ]But with] both of those fights there hasn’t been one discussion yet”, Hearn said on the 5 Live Boxing with Steve Bunce podcast.

In recent weeks, Congolese heavyweight Bakole has suggested Joshua should fight him, even suggesting that he had hurt the two-time heavyweight world champion during a sparring session.

But Hearn, who has promoted Joshua for the entirety of his professional career, laughed off the story, saying he has never witnessed Bakole “rock” Joshua in sparring.

“I think Martin Bakole is a very good fighter, but don’t get carried away that this is the new George Foreman”, Hearn said.

Dubois stopped Joshua’s reign at the top of the heavyweight scene last September at Wembley, causing him to suffer his second straight defeat as a result of a stoppage.

Dubois will face Joseph Parker on February 22 but he opted not to fight him again because he had previously been scheduled to do so.

The Gypsy King might face Joshua, had been building before Tyson Fury’s unexpected retirement announcement last month.

But while that fight seems unlikely again, Hearn says Fury remains at the top of Joshua’s wishlist.

“It’s always been the two – Tyson Fury – who is retired at the moment, we’ll see how long that lasts, and the winner of Dubois-Parker”, Hearn said of Joshua’s ideal next opponent.

Parker and Dubois both had WBO titles stripped away in their 2018 unification fight, but Joshua has a history with both of them.

With Parker on a five-fight winning streak, including victories over Wilder and Zhilei Zhang, Hearn is not confident Dubois will retain his IBF title.

“The first four, five rounds of that fight will be so important”, Hearn said of Dubois-Parker.

“If Parker can get through those rounds, you’ve got to put question marks back in Dubois ‘ head because right now I think he thinks he’s invincible.

” He’s buying into the hype. which might benefit him. Dubois is a handful.