Wilder vs Fury: ‘Why Joshua won’t be at ringside’

Anthony Joshua is not attending Saturday’s blockbuster heavyweight showdown in Los Angeles, Eddie Hearn has confirmed.

Wilder is defending his WBC heavyweight title against Fury in one of the most intriguing match-ups of the last decade.

Fury, who only returned from a 31-month exile from the sport over the summer, faces a monumental task in dethroning the unbeaten American – who has claimed 39 of his 40 victories by knockout.

The winner of Saturday’s bout will surely go on and face unified chief Anthony Joshua to decide who the undisputed heavyweight king is.

Yet, Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn has revealed ‘AJ’ will not be in attendance when his two rivals lock horns at the Staples Centre.

“No, we won’t [be at the fight],” he told Sky Sports.

“We’ve got our show in Italy on Friday and AJ goes out on Tuesday to film in America with Under Armour. He’ll also be at the Canelo fight with DAZN and he’ll be doing a lot of media stuff around there.

“Will he watch? Probably, yeah. I haven’t really spoke to him about the fight that much. He’s just focused on Deontay Wilder.

“If Fury wins and the rematch clause kicks in, we know we’ve gotta move on ourselves, but my instruction is: make that fight [with Wilder].”