Eddie Hearn teases Anthony Joshua future fights as Mahmoud Charr implies AJ deal

Promoter Eddie Hearn has revealed that talks are underway for a two-fight deal for Anthony Joshua and Riyadh Season.

Hearn told the website BoxingScene that he, Joshua, and Turki Alalshikh had been in discussions regarding future plans for Joshua to box following surgery on his elbow. It is understood that the bouts are to take place under the ‘Riyadh Season’ banner, beneath which Joshua fought Francis Ngannou and Daniel Dubois last year.

Speaking to BoxingScene, Hearn said: “We are actually discussing a two-fight deal with Riyadh Season. We've been doing that, [Turki Alalshikh] said that on the night of Canelo-Scull, when we had our meeting, and that's the plan really. We want to box sometime this year, October, November, December.”

He added: “We’ll see what happens with Dubois-Usyk. We’ll see what happens with Fury. If we don’t fight those guys, maybe we’ll fight one of those guys next year.”

Other reports, however, posit that the potential deal will be for three fights, not two.

The two opponents currently in mind, said Hearn, are Jared Anderson and Dillian Whye. Anderson, 18-1 (15), is coming off a victory over Marios Kollias in February in New York but lost via knockout to heavyweight dangerman Martin Bakole last August.

Whyte, 31-3 (21), was last seen in Gibraltar in December, beating Ebenezer Tetteh by stoppage in seven rounds. Whyte and Joshua have a long history together, with the pair meeting ten years ago in a fight won by Joshua in seven rounds. Since then, Whyte—who stunned Joshua early in the fight—has been pushing for a rematch.

Another name that has inexplicably entered the fray within the last few days has been Syrian-German boxer Mahmoud Charr. Charr, who lives in Dubai and lost to Kubrat Pulev in his last fight, posted a video to Instagram this week with Joshua, implying that the two had been talking about a potential bout.

The video posted by Charr shows he and Joshua walking towards each other as men in Arab clothing stand behind them. The pair meet, their fists raised.

“There’s only one giant in Syria,” states Charr as voices chant in the background.

Joshua, meanwhile, turns to the camera and smiles.

A fight between Joshua and Charr might have more credence than one immediately with Anderson or Whyte. Charr, who turns 41 later this year, has somehow kept his name in the mix despite limited success in the heavyweight division.

His most-notable moment came in Moscow in 2012 when he was stopped on a cut in the fourth round against then-WBC champion Vitali Klitschko. His record since then has been spotted with wins over lesser names and losses against the top-tier of the heavyweight division. In 2014, he lost by knockout to Alexander Povetkin in seven rounds, while Frenchman Johann Duhaupas outpointed him a year later.

There was a loss in five rounds the same year against cruiserweight Mairis Briedis. In the nine years after, Charr went undefeated in six. However, he lost a unanimous decision to Kubrat Pulev in December last year.

Possibly more telling than his age, Charr has had multiple health issues. He had both hips replaced in 2017 and, more shockingly, was shot twice in a kebab shop in Essen, Germany, in 2015.