Eddie Hearn says Anthony Joshua will fight in May or June and start training camp in January. By then, the former two-time heavyweight champion (28-4, 25 KOs) will have had four months off to recover from his fifth-round knockout loss to IBF champion Daniel Dubois on September 21.
Joshua Eyes May/June Bolt
Hearn says Joshua, 35, will fight twice in 2025, which he hopes will be two fights against Tyson Fury. If not him, a rematch with Dubois (22-2, 21 KOs). AJ still wants to avenge his loss, but first on the agenda is Fury if he doesn’t retire.
It is understandable that Hearn is pushing hard to rush up and the Joshua vs. Fury to fight because both fighters have aged and can no longer be counted on to defeat the level competition. If Hearn were to wait, both guys would still be beaten by the younger or even the older heavyweights.
While they can both still defeat many of the top 15 guys, there are more than a handful of heavyweights in the division who will have an excellent chance of defeating them.
Hearn says Joshua-Fury and Chris Eubank Jr. vs. Conor Benn are the two biggest fights in British boxing. He could be right. Fans want to see both of those contests, even if the rest of the world doesn’t.
“In May or June. He is not yet in full training. He’s probably ready to train in January,” said Eddie Hearn iFL TV about when Anthony Joshua will fight next. “Right now you have the Dubois fight (against Joseph Parker) on February 22, and you have to see what Fury wants to do.
“We are not in a big hurry. AJ will fight twice in 2025. Once in the summer and once in the winter. If we can’t get the Dubois to fight and if Fury doesn’t want to fight, do you have to make the decision to fight someone, or do you wait for those fights?
“I can’t speak for AJ who he’s willing to fight, but what I do know is the focus is Daniel Dubois or Tyson Fury. Of course he (Joshua) did all that. If he gets Fury on his resume, he’s boxed pretty much everyone of his era.
AJ vs. Fury in 2025?
Fury has not yet said whether he will fight Joshua. He was pretty upset after his 12-round unanimous decision loss to unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk in their December 21 rematch in Riyadh. He believed he won the fight by three rounds and looked bitter at the post-fight press conference as he lamented his second loss to Usyk.
As upset as Fury is, the money he can get for a fight against Joshua will lure him back into the ring. He won’t be nuts for too long if $100 million is waved under his nose by Turki Al-Shiekh for the AJ clash.
“It (Fury) is a tough fight, it’s a 50-50 fight, but run it twice and see where we are at the end of it. The two biggest fights in British boxing, Eubank-Benn and Fury-AJ, by a mile. Nothing even comes close,” Hearn said.
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