Atalanta co-owner Stephen Pagliuca admits Gian Piero Gasperini’ made a mistake’ with his remarks on Ademola Lookman but insists the Italian is a ‘great, passionate coach.’
Former two-time heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua has his sights set on a potential blockbuster fight with Tyson Fury and a rematch with IBF champion Daniel Dubois when he returns to action, according to his promoter Eddie Hearn.
The British-Nigerian boxer, who suffered a knockout defeat to Dubois at Wembley Stadium last year, is reportedly eager to get back into the heavyweight title picture after watching Saturday’s fights in Saudi Arabia featuring Agit Kabayel’s win over Zhilei Zhang and Joseph Parker’s victory against late replacement Martin Bakole.
“The whole night got him (Joshua) very excited about coming back,” Matchroom CEO Hearn told Sky Sports.
“I think the right thing to do would be to rematch Daniel Dubois, I think that’s what he would like to do, to have another shot at the world heavyweight championship.”
Hearn also revealed Joshua’s interest in facing Fury, despite ‘The Gypsy King’ announcing his retirement in January following back-to-back defeats to Oleksandr Usyk.
“We want to fight Tyson Fury but know he’s retired at the moment. I hope he watched tonight and the hairs on his arms stood up a little bit. We could do something really special. Respect to him, if he doesn’t come back then good luck but if he could, there would be a lot of happy people,” Hearn added.
Top Rank COO Brad Jacobs shares Hearn’s belief that a Joshua fight could tempt Fury back into the ring, telling Sky Sports last week; “Nobody is in Tyson’s head, only himself, of course. I think an Anthony Joshua fight gets him out of retirement, if it’s the right situation and he feels right about it.”
“I believe there is the potential for it. What happens nobody knows. Tyson has done shocking things before, and it wouldn’t surprise me if he did it again,” Jacobs added.
Meanwhile, Sky Sports Boxing analyst Johnny Nelson has suggested Joshua could potentially face Joseph Parker in a rematch of their 2018 bout, which Joshua won by unanimous decision.
“You know what I think is going to happen. I think Daniel Dubois goes on to box Oleksandr Usyk and Anthony Joshua sat ringside, he’s not got an opponent yet and either way I thought, if Parker wins tonight, all of sudden AJ will find an opponent and he won’t be getting in with Daniel Dubois again,” Nelson said before Parker’s win over Bakole.
Dubois was originally scheduled to defend his IBF title against Parker on Saturday but withdrew due to illness. The IBF champion is now expected to target a unification bout with WBC, WBA and WBO champion Usyk.