Eddie Hearn gets a lot of stick.
And to be fair to the Matchroom boss, the vast majority is unwarranted because he’s done a lot for British boxing in recent years but we somehow don’t get the feeling that the relentless trolling gets to him at all.
In fact, Hearn seems to relish his role as pugilism’s pantomime villain.
And if Hearn enjoys the negative reaction he typically gets from crowds, it pales in comparison to the kick that Anthony Joshua gets out of it.
At the weigh-ins on Friday, Joshua encouraged the Cardiff crowd to give his promoter a massive cheer but the request was met with a hilarious silence.
Joshua knew what he was doing. pic.twitter.com/HKw7PiTjSV
— Darragh Murphy (@DarrMurphy) October 27, 2017
And just over 24 hours later, after Joshua saw his hand raised with a controversial stoppage victory over Carlos Takam in the Principality Stadium, ‘AJ’ momentarily joined the anti-Hearn brigade.
Hearn was just about to be interviewed about what we could expect to be next for the undefeated British heavyweight when the crowd erupted into a chorus of jeers.
And Joshua couldn’t help but act as conductor to the choir.
Anthony Joshua is the absolute best. pic.twitter.com/1qcGvVNR1M
— Darragh Murphy (@DarrMurphy) October 28, 2017
Given his high spirits, you wouldn’t have guessed that Joshua had only just suffered a broken nose in a gruelling 10-round war with Takam.
But it seems like nothing will get in the way of Joshua and a good laugh.
