Anthony Joshua In Talks For Huge Summer Fight Against Unexpected Opponent: “Let’s Roll The Dice”

Anthony Joshua is now slated for a summer ring return.

Joshua was last in action in September when he was stopped inside five rounds by IBF heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois at Wembley Stadium.

All signs then pointed towards ‘AJ’ taking on Tyson Fury in a huge all-British clash after Fury had come up short in his two battles with heavyweight king Oleksandr Usyk.

Those plans were dashed in January when Fury abruptly announced his retirement, leaving Joshua with no clear next opponent.

Promoter Eddie Hearn has now revealed to IFL TV that initial talks are underway for Joshua’s next bout, making the surprise claim that they are speaking about a rematch with Dubois, despite it seeming like ‘DDD’ was all set for an undisputed showdown with Usyk.

“We’re talking to Queensberry about the potential of Dubois-AJ this summer, the rematch. They’re planning Dubois’ next move as well.

“Some brief conversations with His Excellency about AJ against Wilder, the Parker fight could have potential. At this stage why would you roll the dice against Parker for the interim would title when you could roll the dice against Dubois for the full world title?

“I don’t think there’s any difference in those fights really in terms of the toughness of them. I’d go for Dubois every day of the week. If we can’t get Fury, my advice is to fight Dubois for the world title. I think he [AJ] should do it and I think he will beat Dubois.”

As of January, Joshua is ranked number 7 with the IBF. Dubois does not yet have a mandatory challenger. He was set to defend his IBF title against Parker last month but pulled out of the contest on fight week due to a viral infection and replaced by Martin Bakole, with Parker winning that fight by second round knockout.

Dubois has made it clear that he wants a rematch against Usyk with all four heavyweight belts on the line. The Ukrainian is also pushing for the fight, as is Riyadh Season’s Turki Alalshikh.