Promoter Eddie Hearn says Anthony Joshua will next fight in the first quarter of 2025, in May or June. First, Joshua (28-4, 25 KOs) will await the outcome of the December 21st rematch between unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury before deciding.
When will Joshua fight next?
Matchroom promoter Hearn tells DAZN that Joshua will return in May or June. Assuming Fury gets beaten by Usyk again, Hearn will need to find a semi-soft opponent for Joshua to fight unless he wants to make the Joshua-Fury match in that dire situation. With fighters losing, the match would be mocked by fans, and would not be taken seriously.
You would think that Joshua and Fury would choose to get a win under their belts before they meet, but I doubt it. The smell of money will be too strong for these two to hold off their match, especially if their confidence is gone. Fury has already lost his cool after being beaten by Usyk earlier on May 18, and apologies are clear signs that he is mentally plagued by self-doubt.
Hearn has delayed deciding on Joshua’s next opponent since his fifth-round knockout loss to IBF heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois on September 21. The way the young lion Dubois beat Joshua made it difficult for Hearn and AJ to push for an immediate rematch.
When Joshua lost to Andy Ruiz Jr on June 1, 2019, AJ and Hearn agreed to fight an immediate rematch. The same applies when Joshua lost to Usyk for the first time on 25 September 2021. This time, with Joshua knocked out by the 27-year-old Dubois, it’s different. Hearn and Joshua aren’t keen on duking it out with Dubois. It’s just too risky.
The chances of success are slim, and it would permanently mess up the Fury fight if there ever was one. His Excellency Turki Alalshikh says a fight between AJ and Fury could still happen if one or both lose, but it would still be a bad look on the two British fighter’s parts to go into the match with one of them losing .
It makes sense for Joshua to wait for the Usyk-Fury 2 rematch because the fight fans want to see is between him and Fury. That fight will bring in massive money and generate worldwide interest.
The bad news is that the 36-year-old Fury (34-1-1, 24 KOs) is likely to lose to WBA, WBC and WBO heavyweight champion Usyk (22-0, 14 KOs) on December 21, which spoils a lot . of the interest in a match against Joshua.
The Dubois loss and rematch concern
Dubois dropped Joshua four times, once in rounds 1, 3, 4 and 5, to get the knockout on September 21 at Wembley Stadium in London. The way Dubois wiped Joshua out, it would have been a bad business move on his and Hearn’s part to fight him again.
There is too much money on the line for Joshua with the Fury fight and other fights for him to sacrifice his career for a second time against Dubois.
If Joshua was younger, he could adopt the safety-first Wladimir Klitschko style and Dubois outboxing, but not at 35. He is old enough to drastically change his fighting style for this bout, as he did in his rematch against an out-of-form Andy Ruiz on December 7, 2019.
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