ANTHONY JOSHUA has warned promoter Eddie Hearn about approaching him with a step-aside offer for his showdown with Oleksandr Usyk.
Preliminary talks for AJ to allow the newly-crowned unified heavyweight champ to face WBC king Tyson Fury are underway.
But promoter Hearn has yet to bring a proposal to the Watford warrior, who had a stern message for his pal about delaying his shot at redemption.
The Matchroom Boxing chief recently told the DAZN Boxing Show: “I spoke to him yesterday – we’ve had some approaches about this.
“No real deep conversations, but just regards to the concept.
“The concept being you let Fury and Usyk fight for undisputed and you fight the winner.
“Yesterday Anthony said to me, ‘Just to sort of warn you, regarding a step-aside, it’s against everything I believe in. All I wanna do is fight Oleksandr Usyk.
“‘I trust you that if some kind of plan comes up that is a great financial package, but more importantly gives me time to gel with a new trainer and then go into a massive fight for huge money later on in the year, and you think that’s right for my career, then let me know.
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“But he said, ‘Let me warn you, when you do that, you’re under threat yourself because I don’t want to do it.'”
Joshua, 32, suffered a lopsided points defeat to his slick southpaw Usyk in their September showdown at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
The Olympic gold medallist is hellbent on exacting revenge on the undefeated Ukrainian.
But he recently hinted he’d be willing to step aside from their second clash – which is in the works for the spring – if he received an offer that makes sense.
He recently told IFL TV: “I think people know not to approach me with that rubbish. People know not to approach me with that bull****.
“It may have come to my team but I think they know not to bring to me at the minute.
“At this stage of my career it’s not about the money, it’s about the respect. You’ve got to look at what I want out of this game; number one is respect, you don’t have to like me but you will respect me.
“The second is to go down as a throwback fighter, someone who was willing to fight the best in their division so that when I walk the streets with my son, my cousin and my nephews, people will know I’m a real fighter.
“In terms of stepping aside, I don’t know if that goes in line with what a morally stand for… but I want to be known as one of the smartest businessmen as well.
“I want to make the smart decisions and if the money is right we would have to look at it but respect has more value than money.
“Will I take the step-aside money? If its a smart business move… will it affect my reputation and respect?
“Will I still get to fight the best fighters? Those are the three things I have to consider.”
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