EDDIE HEARN admits that Anthony Joshua is staring down the barrel of an 18-month lay-off.
The London 2012 legend suffered a crushing knockout loss to Daniel Dubois last September.
Two-time heavyweight king Anthony Joshua is never out of shape but his future remains unclear[/caption]
Watford hero AJ has recovered from his Daniel Dubois defeat with trips abroad[/caption]
The Matchroom boss insisted in the Wembley aftermath that his star attraction would activate the immediate rematch clause.
But the 36-year-old Watford hero was then ruled out with an injury and is still yet to return to full-time training.
The two-time heavyweight king has taken hard-earned time away to travel and recover, visiting his parent’s Nigeria home, as well as Ghana, where he was treated like an icon in both African boxing hotbeds.
But IF he returns around Valentine’s Day it will be by far his longest hiatus, since the covid lockdown cost him 12 months between wins over Andy Ruiz Jr and Kubrat Pulev.
The deeply private father-of-one has done no interviews about his comeback or future but Matchroom boss Hearn has regularly teased triumphant returns for last summer, Autumn and Christmas.
But – after losing out on the circus-show Jake Paul fight – Hearn now claims we will not see AJ until closer to February 2026.
On his latest podcast, the Essex deal maker said: “As the time ticks by, it’s probably more likely that we see [Anthony Joshua] in the ring again for a January/February date, if I’m honest.
“He’s been travelling about a bit but he’s back in training following an elbow operation.
“But these big fights take time and every AJ event is a massive event.
“It was well publicised about the meetings that took place in Ghana over the last couple of weeks.”
The idea of Joshua fighting in Africa is a wonderful one, he proudly has a Nigeria tattoo etched onto his giant shoulder.
But the obstacles in the way – from infrastructure, politics and funding – make it seem like a fairytale but Hearn still hopes of making a modern remake of the Rumble in the Jungle
He explained: “There has been an offer to do a fight there and I think it would be incredible for AJ to fight in Africa.
“However, when you are doing site deals a lot of it depends on when the host wants to stage the show.
I don’t think there’s any value in us saying it will be in December.
Eddie Hearn
“So, if Ghana comes back and says they’d like to go in January/February, then that’s the offer.
“I don’t think there’s a rush, even though he has been out of the ring for almost a year now.”
Once Joshua does return to the ring – after the longest absence of his iconic career – Hearn is adamant the overdue Tyson Fury fight is on track, again.
He said: “Any fight he has next though is likely to be a warm-up fight for that ‘roll the dice’ fight.
“We hope, in an ideal world, that is Tyson Fury. If not, it will be against one of the top five heavyweights.”
