Anthony Joshua has not fought since September 2024 but has been bumped up the world heavyweight rankings.
At this stage, the former two-time world champion is in the autumn of his career. His attempt to become three-time world champion ended in disaster last time out when he was knocked down early and then stopped in the fifth round by IBF world champion Daniel Dubois.
Prior to that he had lost back-to-back fights to Oleksandr Usyk in 2021 and 2022 but rebuilt with four wins over lower level opposition including Robert Helenius, Jermaine Franklin, Otto Wallin and UFC star turned boxing novice Francis Ngannou.
Right now ‘AJ’ is assessing his options. One possibility is a rematch with Dubois, though many in the boxing world hoped he would finally have a showdown with long time rival Tyson Fury.
Fury put paid to that however when he announced his retirement in early January, just days after his own second straight loss to Usyk – though many believe that was a negotiating tactic to get more money for a fight with ‘AJ.’
Back in February, Joshua was ranked by the WBC, a belt he has never won, at 5th below Agit Kabayel, Zhilei Zhang, Lawrence Okolie and Matin Bakole.
The rankings have been updated for March and Usyk remains at the top, though Joshua has moved up to the second spot only behind number one Lawrence Okolie, a former WBC cruiserweight champion who has only had one fight at heavyweight. Kabayel now holds the Interim belt, and losses for Bakole and Zhang in February have seen them drop down.
WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman has said he would be open to an interim title fight between ‘AJ’ and Kabayel, meaning the Brit’s best route back to the top may be to roll the dice against the dangerous body puncher and hope for the full title to become vacant when Usyk retires in the near future.
