Canelo Alvarez against Tim Tszyu, Anthony Joshua against Justis Huni in plans for Eddie Hearn

Eddie Hearn is staging his first boxing show in Australia this weekend. But it’s just the tip of the iceberg for what he has planned next year.

Big name boxers coming to Australia

One of the world’s most powerful boxing promoters has identified Australia as a key strategic market and plans to fill a stadium next year with a potential superfight between Canelo Alvarez and Tim Tszyu.

Eddie Hearn, boss of Matchroom Boxing, arrived in Brisbane on Tuesday ahead of his debut show in Australia this weekend, but is already eyeing a major event in 2023 that could see either Alvarez – the sport’s biggest star – or heavyweight sensation Anthony Joshua headlining a show within 12 months.

“It’s important for us to do a stadium show here in 2023,” Hearn told News Corp.

Tim Tszyu would need to step up in weight to fight Alvarez. Picture: Mark Evans/Getty Images

“I look at our key fighters in Anthony Joshua and Canelo Alvarez, there’s an opportunity to bring them here. I look back on [Manny] Pacquiao versus [Jeff] Horn, and that’s a big moment for the sport here, and that’s really where I think we need to get to.

“Hopefully your guys get up, Tim Tszyu is in a big fight for the undisputed titles (against super-welterweight champion Jermell Charlo in January), it’s going to be very tough for him, but you need Australians in those big global fights.

“It’s going to take an Australian heavyweight to come through, whether it’s Demsey or Justis Huni against an AJ (Joshua) or a [Tyson] Fury. Or it’s going to take a super-middleweight to fight Canelo Alvarez. I know Tim is at 154, but you could see him up at 160, 168 eventually.

Canelo Alvarez has held multiple world championships in four weight classes. Picture: Ethan Miller/Getty Images/AFP

“We’d love to box Canelo around the world, and Australia’s becoming a big market for boxing and it’s important for us, so we’ll definitely be looking to bring our stable here.”

Hearn’s first Australian show will see undefeated locals Liam Paro and Brock Jarvis go toe-to-toe, with the winner to fight for a world title at super-lightweight.

He has also signed up a host of other rising Australian stars, and has not ruled out making a play for the likes of Tszyu, Huni and others in the future, although he is more than happy to work with major promoters No Limit and Dean Lonergan to put stadium shows together.

“We come in peace, we’re not coming here to upset everybody, but at the same time we want the best fighters here.

“We feel we have a tremendous roster already in Liam Paro, Brock Jarvis, Demsey McKean, Steve Spark, Skye Nicolson and Ebanie Bridges.

(L-R) Aussie heavyweights Justis Huni and Joe Goodall. Picture: Chris Hyde/Getty Images

“But there are other fighters as well, you look at Jai Opetaia, a tremendous fighter. Justis Huni, a great fighter, Tim Tszyu, Nikita Tszyu.

“People like No Limit, and Tasman Fighters, and Dean Lonergan, they’re all doing a fantastic job here, they’re really investing their time and effort into growing the sport. Of course we want the best fighters under the Matchroom banner, but we’re not looking to upset anyone just yet.

“They don’t quite believe me when I say that.”

Matchroom’s broadcasting deal is with streaming service DAZN – which will show Saturday’s fight card from Brisbane’s South Bank Piaza – although some of their future shows will also be shown live on Fox Sports and Kayo.

Heavyweight star Anthony Joshua would be a huge drawcard in Australia. Picture: Richard Heathcote/Getty Images

“Steve Spark is fighting Montana Love on November 12, Ebanie Bridges is defending her world title against Shannon O’Connell, we want an Australian fighter on every single card we do,” Hearn said.

“But we want to do four to six shows on the ground here in Australia next year.

“We’ve got a big global vision for the business, and we need to be in markets that are important in the world of boxing. A couple of things made the eyes open over here, one is the amount of shows and the interest from broadcasters, but also the talent.

“I just feel there’s great momentum for boxing over here, and we wanted to be a part of it.

Demsey McKean at Matrix Boxing Gym preparing for his next fight. Picture: Supplied.

“Every Australian fighter wants to seem to fight abroad, but I’d like to change that mindset and try to build big shows over here.

“We’ve got the global stable where we can bring some of our bigger names here, we’ve got Demsey McKean breaking into the top 10 heavyweight rankings, why not do him against Anthony Joshua? I’m a cricket fan, stick it in The Gabba early next year.

“That’s a dream for me. We want to bring out our entire stable here, Saturday we’ve got our first card here in Brisbane, it’s a great card from top to bottom, and the first of many.”

Originally published as Canelo Alvarez against Tim Tszyu, Anthony Joshua against Justis Huni in plans for Eddie Hearn