Anthony Joshua US debut being planned

Heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua maybe coming to the United States later this year possibly against Jarrell Miller, according to Dan Rafael of espn.com.

“Anthony Joshua would never look past Joseph Parker, but our job is to plan the future,” Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn said. “I’ve been talking to [Barclays Center CEO] Brett Yormark about bringing [Joshua] to New York, and August would be an opportunity to do that. While the unification fight [with Deontay] Wilder looks to be unlikely until [Wilder] gets realistic about the split [of the money], we feel a fight in America would be beneficial to us and, in Brooklyn at Barclays Center, Miller would be the guy, provided he get the win. So there’s a lot for Miller to fight for.

“In an ideal world, we’d like to see AJ’s U.S. debut in August or September. We have a strong relationship with the Barclays Center, and a fight with Miller — a kid from Brooklyn — would be an attractive fight. It’s a nice story.”

“Until March 31 happens, we just don’t know. AJ could lose the fight, get injured — anything can happen,” Hearn said. “But New York and America is a focus for us in 2018. It’s one of the territories we want to box in. The Wilder fight, I feel, is inevitable but it’s just a case of when it will happen. It all depends. Wilder has to beat Luis Ortiz [on March 3, also at Barclays Center], and we have Parker and then maybe Miller.

“But we are very serious about America. It’s very important to us and definitely on the agenda for 2018.”

“But anything can happen when you’re in these big unification fights,” Hearn said. “We’ll review everything on April 1.”

“We’re talking about potential U.S. broadcast partners moving forward,” Hearn said. “Showtime were the guys who backed Anthony Joshua when other people weren’t interested, so they get first opportunity as far as I’m concerned. They put the money up and invested in AJ’s career when others didn’t. Over the next few months we’ll be working and talking to different American broadcasters. This is a very important decision. It’s not just the money. It’s about picking the broadcaster who can grow AJ’s brand and make him a star in America.

“I had a meeting with Stephen Espinoza [on Tuesday] to talk about Anthony’s future. I get on very well with HBO. They’re hugely interested in signing Anthony Joshua. I’m sure everyone will want to make an offer. We’ll get the Parker fight sorted and decide what’s next for AJ’s future.”