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Eddie Hearn Details Rematch Clause in Anthony Joshua- Oleksandr Usyk Fight

Published 06/17/2021, 12:27 AM EDT

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Eddie Hearn recently provided an update on the much anticipated heavyweight title fight between Anthony Joshua and Oleksandr Usyk. The contracts are close to being signed for Joshua’s title defense. Hearn expanded upon the details of the negotiations in a recent interview with Boxing Social’s Rob Tebbutt.

“[I] think we are in a good place. Don’t see any problems with that fight. September 18 or 25. Wembley, Spurs- incoming,” he said.

After answering the questions, Hearn also confirmed that there will be a rematch clause inserted within the contract. The rules of the clause are simple: If Joshua loses the title to Usyk, he will straightaway get another shot to reclaim his belts. Usyk, however, will have a different path.

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“It’s a massive opportunity. If Oleksandr Usyk wins, he then makes an absolute fortune to fight AJ again.”

“AJ is putting his entire stack on the line and many, many tens of millions to fight Oleksandr Usyk. So, in that respect, if there’s an opportunity to do that fight again, which would be a huge fight by the way, then that’s what we’d look to do… If Oleksandr Usyk gets beat, we’ll give him another fight… Within this agreement, we have a fight either way. So, yes, I guess it will be a two-fight deal either way and I’ll look to work with Usyk for the rest of his career,” Hearn said.

Can Oleksandr Usyk Beat Anthony Joshua?

Hearn also confirmed that all the terms have been agreed upon and this was a prior term. This, according to the promoter, is not a reason for stalling the fight.

Criticism of Eddie Hearn and his repetitive rematch clauses

This is not the first time that the British promoter has meticulously put in a rematch clause in one of his big fights. Top Rank CEO Bob Arum had criticized Hearn for overusing the clause too much in the past.

Arum said, Rematch clauses are, in essence, overused thanks to our friend, Eddie Hearn. He puts a rematch clause in every contract, and that may indicate that he is not confident in how his fighter will perform. As far as I’m concerned, let them fight. There’ll be a winner, there’ll be a loser, and if down the road they want a rematch, that’s up to them.

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However, Hearn has defended his usage of the clause, citing that rematches often lead to much bigger paydays for both parties involved. Commercially, rematches give the fighters involved a massive opportunity to multiply their purses.

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“You know that when we talk about a rematch clause, it’s also the biggest fight the fighter could have. So sometimes people think ‘Oh, that’s a bad thing,’ It’s actually sometimes a good thing. Because I mean Andy Ruiz ended up actually getting quite a lot of money for his rematch,” Hearn said during the interview.

Do you think that the rematch clause is something that is inhibiting the official agreement to the fight? Let us know.

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Written by:

Akshit Pushkarna

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Akshit Pushkarna, who has a Post Graduate Degree in Journalism from Xavier's Institute of Communication, is an MMA writer for EssentiallySports. Before his current role, Akshit worked on the Urban Development beat at the Urban Update magazine. However, combat sports always called out to Akshit, who pursued both boxing and wrestling at a regional level before shifting his focus to MMA journalism.
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