You would have to ask Hearn that. Safety, I guess? Rounds with a minimum of risk. Hearn has been making it abundantly clear they are taking no risks here. They want a patsy Joshua can try some new stuff on and beat in his sleep.
All they want is an easy win here and sometimes, it's better the devil you know. But there are ordinary level heavyweights everywhere and the guy he fights may not even be one of the ones Hearn has nominated. The opponent might be location specific too. For instance, if they choose the December 13th card in California, the opponent would likely be a Yank - perhaps someone like Stephan Shaw, Brandon Moore? Whereas if Joshua gets included on the card in Ghana it will be someone with a similar complexion to him.
When they were more aggressive with Joshua's fight schedule they lined up Jermaine Franklin, Helenius, Ngannou as a bounce back fights Excited to see what they come up with now and then be told by Joshua fans that he "always faces the best available competition".
Who hasn't Hearn said Joshua would easily beat? Usyk is about the only one that comes to mind. He does revert to 'it will be a tougher fight than people think' when it's ticket selling time though.
I can't see Joshua fighting Hrgovic in the US with a month's notice. And I can't see him fighting on an undercard in the UK. So that would leave the Dec. 27 card in Saudi. If Joshua fights on an undercard, it'll likely be against a Peter McNeeley type who will be out of there in seconds. And it'll be where Turki can pay him more than the main event super bantam guys to blast out some no-hoper.
Joshua is going to fight a bum next. Who says so? Eddie Hearn. It comes straight from the horse's mouth. In attempting to justify a fight against Jake Paul, Hearns says: "He was only going to fight an 8 rounder against someone you have never heard of anyway." So it's the Youtuber or someone you have never heard of, next for Joshua. At least that's the current plan.
Turki now saying Joshua will be fighting in Saudi, in February. Hearn was saying a couple of days ago, Joshua "had a big fight coming up in February." So who against, becomes the big question? Turki also referring to “one of the greatest fights in the history of boxing occurring next September in London", which could only really be Joshua-Fury.
According to Gareth A Davies Joshua will be paid $50 Million for the Jake Paul fight should it go ahead.