Eddie Hearn makes bold prediction ahead of Anthony Joshua vs Oleksandr Usyk fight

Eddie Hearn is confident that Anthony Joshua will defeat Oleksandr Usyk in their rematch, which will be announced soon.

Last September, Joshua was defeated by Usyk and lost his IBO, WBA (Super), WBO, and IBF world heavyweight titles.

The fight was close until the final four rounds, when the Ukrainian sprinted away from Joshua, who made the mistake of trying to outbox the former cruiserweight champion.

According to reports, Joshua enlisted the help of Robert Garcia to help him prepare for his fight with Usyk. He has coached 14 fighters to world titles and is known for his effective game plans.

Hearn witnessed the first fight up close at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, and he believes Joshua will not only become the first man to defeat Usyk in a professional fight, but he will also knock him out.

“I’m telling you now, AJ KOs Usyk within six rounds,” Hearn told fans during a Q&A on Instagram Live.

“I rate Usyk but I believe in Anthony Joshua and I believe he’s going to put it right in the rematch, I really do.”

Joshua is 26-2 in his career with 24 knockouts to his name. Most experts believed he should have exerted his size and power more in the original fight.

The rematch was tipped to happen in Saudi Arabia on July 23, but it seems the fight may stray into August now after some unexpected delays.

“We are close to announcing AJ’s next fight,” Hearn added. “If you watched my Kugan Cassius interview yesterday you would have seen there was a slight delay, but news very soon.”

​​Hearn told iFL TV that the venue and date were all but done, but that if there were to be a delay it would be no more than two weeks.

“We have agreed to a deal for the site, and the working date of July 23,” he said.

“We are pretty much ready to announce. When you question about whether there will be a delay. If there is, you’re talking about two weeks, and it’s for no other reason than time to make sure we can promote the fight in the right way.

“The fight is happening, the fight is agreed in terms of where it will take place and both sides have agreed, both sides have agreed to the deal, both sides have agreed to everything.”

If the fight is postponed for a few weeks, AJ and Usyk will avoid competing in UFC London on July 23 at the very least.