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