Anthony Joshua in talks for a two-fight deal with Riyadh Season
Anthony Joshua (28-4, 25 KOs) hasn’t fought yet this year, but it’s now been revealed that he is targeting a comeback in the last quarter of 2025.
Watford’s Joshua was last in the ring in September 2024 when he was dominated by fellow Brit Daniel Dubois over five rounds at Wembley Stadium, losing out on his quest to become a three-time world heavyweight champion.
That fourth defeat of his career had followed on from a four-fight win streak against lower-level competition in Jermaine Franklin, Robert Helenius, Otto Wallin and Francis Ngannou.
Prior to that run, AJ had lost back-to-back bouts with Oleksandr Usyk, who is preparing to fight Dubois on July 19.
After recovering from an injury earlier this year, Joshua is now targeting his ring return, which Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn shed some light on when talking to BoxingScene.
Hearn revealed that Joshua “wants to box sometime this year – October, November, December.”
He spoke with Turki Alalshikh on the night of Canelo vs William Scull on May 3, “Yeah, we are actually discussing a two-fight deal with Riyadh Season.”
He also gave an indication as to who they are targeting, “We’ll see what happens with Dubois-Usyk, we’ll see what happens with Fury. And if we don’t fight those guys, we’ll fight, and then maybe we’ll follow one of those guys next year.”
In terms of who AJ could fight instead of Dubois, Usyk or Fury, Hearn loosely said, “Two guys have been discussed, but nothing concrete.”
According to TalkSport, those “two guys” are Dillian Whyte (31-3, 21 KOs) and Jared Anderson (18-1, 15 KOs).
AJ and Dillian Whyte already fought, back in 2015. Joshua got revenge over his amateur rival with a seventh-round stoppage to win the vacant British heavyweight title, which had formerly been held by Tyson Fury. Four months later, he was crowned world champion for the first time.
Joshua and Whyte were all set to run it back in August 2023, until Dillian pulled out on fight week due to adverse findings in his drug tests. After a lengthy legal case, he was eventually cleared, but missed out on the lucrative rematch as well as 16 months of his boxing career.
Whyte has since defeated the Cristian Hammer and Ebenezer Tetteh in March and December 2024, respectively. Now 37, he was meant to fight Joe Joyce last April, but was forced to withdraw via injury. But now “The Body Snatcher” from Brixton is eager to get back out again.
Ohio’s Jared Anderson, 25, was enjoying a meteoric rise through the heavyweight ranks until it all came crashing down after a fifth-round KO at the hands of Martin Bakole in August 2024.
The double U.S. National amateur champion has since bounced back with a dominant unanimous decision win over Greek fighter Marios Kollias on Valentines Day this year.
The American is still highly-rated in terms of ability and potential, plus he is stock is still elevated, ranked in four of the five governing bodies, whereas Whyte’s inactivity has seen him drop out of the top 10.
