Anthony Joshua looks to be firing on all cylinders as he continues his rehabilitation after a successful surgery earlier this month.

The two-time heavyweight world champion has been sidelined since his crushing knockout loss to Daniel Dubois last September.

While he has served his mandatory 28-day stoppage suspension from the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC), Joshua has been unable to resume full training due to an injury to his right elbow.

Luckily, the issue has since been resolved under the knife, and although AJ isn’t back punching with his right hand just yet, he did uncork multiple stinging lefts on the pads upon his return to the gym this week.

Reacting to his latest training footage, one fan tweeted: “Would hate to get punched by him.”

Another posted: “He’s got serious pop in those shots.”

A third wrote: “AJ showing how it is done. Punch through the target.”

Meanwhile, another fan added: “Looking sharp.”

AJ is currently visiting Oman as he counts down the days to when he returns to full training.

According to his promoter Eddie Hearn, Joshua will be back punching with his right hand again in six weeks.

That means that the Watford powerhouse could return to the ring as early as September.

“He’s had the operation, which went very well, and now he’s just sort of rehabbing it,” Hearn told BoxingScene over the weekend.

“I believe about six weeks till he can punch again properly, and that kind of lends itself to a September, October, November fight.

“That gives us a chance to see what happens with Dubois against Usyk.

“That gives us a chance to see if Mr. Fury will ever return, and maybe something else.

“But he’s definitely fighting this year and looking forward to it.”

It seems highly unlikely Joshua will face the winner of Oleksandr Usyk and Daniel Dubois’ undisputed showdown on July 19.

WBO interim champion Joseph Parker is set to get the next shot after stepping aside to let the four-belt shootout take place.

The long-awaited domestic dust-up with Tyson Fury is also an uncertainty at this stage, with ‘The Gypsy King’ recently insisting he will ‘stay retired’.

“I hear a lot of talk about ‘The Gypsy King’ returning to boxing and I ask this question first of all: for what?” Fury said while on holiday at Lake Como in Italy last week.

“What would I return for? More belts? I’ve won 22 of them. I’ve been rumped, that’s it, fair play to them, they got their use out of me.

“But I’m happy, I am happy, content with what I’ve done, what I have achieved and what I have accomplished.

“I’ve been around the world and back again, and here we are, this is what retirement looks like for the Gypsy King, not too shabby.

“I’m in no rush at all to come back to boxing and get my face punched in.

“For what? What would I return for? I ask that question. So here we are, I am retired and I am staying retired.

“I have nothing to prove to anybody and nothing to return for. God bless you all, and see you on the other side.”

Anthony Joshua is in discussion with Riyadh Season over a bumper two-fight deal, according to the Brit’s promoter Eddie Hearn.

The Watford powerhouse hasn’t stepped foot in the ring since his devastating knockout loss to Daniel Dubois last September.

Both parties had entered into negotiations to stage a rematch, however, AJ opted to undergo surgery on an elbow injury instead.

Dubois has since gone on to land an undisputed showdown with Oleksandr Usyk on July 19, while Joshua ponders his next steps as he continues his rehabilitation.

Earlier this week, NoSmoke Sport reported that Joshua was working on a three-fight deal with Turki Alalshikh – the Saudi powerbroker behind the money-spinning Riyadh Season bills.

Responding to the report during an interview with BoxingScene, Hearn said: “Yeah, that’s not true, we are actually discussing a two-fight deal with Riyadh Season.

“We’ve been doing that, [Turki Alalshikh] said that on the night of Canelo [vs. William Scull, May 3], when we had our meeting, and that’s the plan really.

“We want to box sometime this year, October, November, December.”

Discussing potential opponents, Hearn added: “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.”

Hearn then confirmed that Dillian Whyte and Jared Anderson are in the running as well.

“Two guys that have been discussed, but nothing concrete,” Hearn said of Whyte and Anderson.

The fact that Whyte has been mentioned doesn’t come as much of a surprise, given the history between the pair.

However, a possible bout with Anderson seems a bizarre choice.

The American was once hailed as ‘the future of the heavyweight division’, but he has since been widely written off after falling to the first defeat of his professional career against Martin Bakole last August.

It therefore seems an unnecessary risk to fight the Ohio puncher while his stock is so low.

Joshua wouldn’t gain much recognition in victory, while suffering a defeat would be catastrophic at this stage in his career.

Ultimately, the fight everyone wants to see is Joshua vs Fury.

Whether the all-British showdown can get over the line for the back end of this year remains to be seen.

‘The Gypsy King’ recently insisted that he will ‘stay retired’, although rumours of him planning a comeback are rife.

He was once considered by some to be the big man in the heavyweight division, both literally and physically. Anthony Joshua was a statuesque, hard hitting Londoner who could literally sell out stadiums. Holding numerous heavyweight titles simultaneously, he was – for a short time, at least – the brightest of three shining divisional stars: himself, American Deontay Wilder, and fellow Brit Tyson Fury. What made Joshua particularly impressive was, after a stunning defeat to Andy Ruiz in his American debut, he changed styles in the rematch to defeat Ruiz handily. Known generally as a knockout artist up until that point, Joshua showed in the Ruiz rematch that he could add new wrinkles to his game.

Is seemed only natural that Joshua would take on Fury or Wilder – or both – at some point. It was not meant to be, however. For Joshua lost his titles to Oleksandr Usyk, then went on to lose to the Ukrainian for the second time in a rematch. In the meantime, Fury won a wonderous trilogy against Wilder, only to then be defeated twice by Usyk himself. Suffice to say a hoped for undisputed heavyweight title fight between Fury and Joshua fell through. Still, this spring, Team Joshua was still keen on seeing Joshua face Fury. What’s more, it looked like Fury might have still been keen on the fight himself. Last week, however, Fury let the world know via social media post, that he was retired and aimed to stay that way.

A dream deferred. The heavyweight division is, truth be told, experiencing a changing of the guard at the moment. Joshua, Fury and Wilder – the former three masters of the division – are all past their glory years. New blood is coming up – talented and exciting new blood. Even Usyk, the man who dusted Joshua and Fury, won’t be around much longer. The question, then is where to from here for Anthony Joshua? The man has had a great career and has made quite a bit of money for himself and his family. Boxing is tough. For instance, Joshua has recently been out of commission thanks to an injury to his elbow

Promoter Eddie Hearn plans on having Joshua fight this year, though, which means Joshua is clearly eager to keep going with his career. Who will he square off with, though? Joshua’s taken his share of shots throughout the course of his career. Such things need to be taken into consideration. Unless Fury changes his mind and decides to come back (and with the unpredictable Fury, one never knows), Joshua may feel pressure to battle one of the division’s young bucks – and that might not be the safest thing to do. Still, boxing is the sport where second acts do, in fact, occur. Perhaps Joshua will surprise the world.

Anthony Joshua doesn’t hesitate when naming the greatest boxer of all time

Anthony Joshua didn’t need time to think when asked about the greatest boxer ever. His answer speaks volumes about legacy, dominance, and respect in the sport.

• Boxing legend Roberto Duran names the greatest boxer in history
• Boxing legend Sugar Ray Leonard names the 3 greatest fighters in history