Anthony Joshua Pleaded To Face One Heavyweight Next But Fight Has Been Shut Down By His Team
Anthony Joshua is once again on the sidelines of the heavyweight division having taken another loss in his most recent fight.
British former two time world champion Joshua sat at the top of the boxing world for several years during a period of great dominance in which he unified three of the four world titles.
There were set backs along the way including an upset loss to Andy Ruiz Jr which he immediately avenged in a rematch six months later. Despite becoming world champion again, he was soon unable to solve the puzzle of Oleksandr Usyk.
The pair shared 24 rounds in back-to-back fights but Joshua ultimately came out without his belts. Usyk has since gone on to become undisputed king of the banner division with his win over Tyson Fury in May, and Joshua himself also rebuilt with four straight wins before being stopped inside five rounds by Daniel Dubois back in September.
Speaking to Boxing News, Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn has said Joshua is keen to fight Dubois as soon as possible.
“AJ’s next fight may well be against Daniel Dubois, but it won’t be on February 22nd. We had a very awkward call with AJ’s medical team, 258, Ben Davison, and he wanted to fight on February 22nd but basically he was told there is no way he can start camp and be 100 % for February 22nd physically.”
He then spoke of the injuries which are keeping him out of camp and the new timeline.
“There is nothing major, two or three issues, a little bit in camp but also the fight. They said he needs to come back in May, June. He didn’t want to do it but we had to overrule him on this.
“We said we can’t afford not to get this right, you get beaten by Daniel Dubois and you have to seriously consider your career. We’ve got one chapter than we need to get 100% spot on. Whenever he comes back he has to be physically and mentally perfect. He wants to rematch Daniel Dubois so bad.”
Anthony Joshua has surpassed the $200m mark in career earnings, making him one of boxing’s highest earners, surpassing heavyweight rival Tyson Fury and rising star Gervonta Davis..
The former two-time heavyweight champion earned $75m from fights in 2024 alone, placing him second only to Canelo Alvarez in yearly earnings. The Mexican champion matched Joshua’s fight purse but edged him in off-field earnings by $2m.
Fury, 36, collected $50m in 2024, taking his career earnings to $150m, significantly behind Joshua’s impressive haul.
Meanwhile, Davis, 30, has accumulated $50m since his professional debut, with his recent bouts against Ryan Garcia and Frank Martin contributing nearly $20m to his wealth. Garcia himself has emerged as a pay-per-view star, amassing over $40m in career earnings
Eddie Hearn Reveals Who Anthony Joshua Is Likely to Fight Next: “He’s Pleading For It”
Eddie Hearn and his fighter Anthony Joshua are carefully planning their next move.
It has been a rollercoaster few years for ‘AJ’, once the unified champion who was knocking all comers out but then took an upset loss to Andy Ruiz Jr in 2019.
He won his belts back in a rematch against Ruiz and, after some more straight forward wins, stepped in against Oleksandr Usyk. The Brit fell short in back to back fights to the man who went on to become undisputed champion earlier this year.
Joshua rebuilt again with knockout victories over Robert Helenius, Otto Wallin and Francis Ngannou before coming up against new IBF champion Daniel Dubois in September.
That fight ended in disaster for Joshua, who was knocked down twice before being stopped in the fifth round by the in-form Dubois.
It was thought Joshua would take an immediate rematch, but his team has since revealed he won’t be ready for Dubois’ preferred date of February 22. Speaking to iFL TV Hearn has now said he could well still take that next.
“Yeah, I think ‘AJ’ might fight Dubois next. Physically, he’s not ready to go back into camp, he had a few niggles coming out of the fight, he would have to go into a February 22nd not 100%, to be honest. And he wants to do that.
It’s very difficult but when I get on a call and you’ve got Anthony Joshua pleading to let him fight on February 22nd and you’ve got his doctor and his physio saying you can physically start camp in three or four weeks and be 100. ‘Yeah but I can’t beat him, I don’t want to those the opportunity to rematch him.’ It’s like, if we get this wrong, you’re done.”
Hearn then said the team would take the time to get Joshua completely fit mentally and physically and reiterated who he will fight next.
“There are only really those two fights that are the focus, the rematch with Daniel Dubois, or the fight with Tyson Fury win or lose against Usyk.”
Either of those fights would be huge for British boxing, and a challenge for Joshua that Fury thinks is a step too far. In the meantime, Dubois is set to defend his belt in February with an opponent yet to be announced.
Despite only recently moving up the heavyweight division, Lawrence Okolie has wasted no time in calling his new rivals out.
Now he has revealed his intentions to fight none other than Anthony Joshua.
His first fight in the heavyweight division is set to take place on the next ‘Magnificent 7’ card on Saturday December 7th.
Last week, he revealed that after this fight, he plans to fight someone ranked in the top 5, then assuming he wins that a world title shot next summer.
The man known as ‘The Sauce’ has not only moved up divisions, he has also switched promotions.
Okolie has penned a deal with Frank Warren and Queensbury, which significantly means that he is part of a blockbuster stable of heavyweights.
Speaking to Daily Star he said, “I will be bringing big performances at heavyweight.”
He spoke about his struggle cutting weight during his cruiserweight time and has suggested that now at heavyweight he will not need long to adapt to his new division.
“In my early cruiserweight days before I was draining myself, I was putting on knockout performances 9 times out of 10 but then it started to fade as we went on. From the spars I’ve had with heavyweights, I know I can do it. I want to show this explosive power. I think talking about it is one thing but it is about doing it.”
Okolie has been an observer of Anthony Joshua throughout his whole career and whilst he was working at McDonald’s he watched ‘AJ’ become an Olympic gold medalist in 2012.
“My whole life has been about the next step,” he added. “When I was working at McDonald’s it was about getting to the Olympics, then when I did that it was becoming world champion.
Moreover, he has said that he has no issue fighting Anthony Joshua and he is happy to fight anyone to achieve his dream of becoming world heavyweight champion.
“Now my aim is to be world heavyweight champion. I want that next year.”
Okolie is certainly not shy when it comes to his aspirations and he understands that in a packed division he has to take opportunities when they come.
Anthony Joshua no longer is set to rematch Daniel Dubois next, therefore a fight with Okolie may well be on the cards.
Frank Warren rules out Daniel Dubois vs Anthony Joshua rematch and names alternative fight he ‘likes’
Frank Warren has confirmed that Queensberry Promotions are now looking at alternative opponents for Daniel Dubois’ next fight.
‘Triple D’ was expected to rematch Anthony Joshua next after blasting him out inside five rounds in September.
In the days that followed the crushing defeat, AJ’s promoter Eddie Hearn confirmed that talks were underway and moving in a positive direction.
However, negotiations have now come to an abrupt halt due to Joshua and Dubois’s uncoordinated timelines.
According to AJ’s promoter Eddie Hearn, his client is still nursing some ‘niggles’ from their inaugural encounter and will need time to recover.
Meanwhile, Dubois is targeting a return to the ring on February 22, which Hearn is concerned will be too tight of a turnaround for the Watford powerhouse.
Hearn held out hope for the fight being pushed back to a date that benefits both men.
But Warren wants Dubois to stay active and so is moving on from the rematch for the time being.
“I don’t see that happening next,” Warren said of Dubois vs Joshua II to BoxNation.
“We are looking at a couple of things at the moment and we will make a decision.
“I was hoping we would get it done fairly quickly but we won’t. I was hoping to get it done last week and this week.
“So sometime next week we are going to be in a position where we can close on something and we are talking to a few other guys…
“I’m hearing that he [Joshua] is injured. Whatever it is, if things are going to happen they happen and it has taken a while so you’ve got to feel it won’t happen.
“Unless I get a phone call saying it is on. But we have got to make some decisions and with the greatest respect to everyone we are in the Daniel Dubois business.
“He is the one that matters for me… I want him out on that date and he wants to be out [February 22].
IBF president Daryl Peoples confirmed earlier this week that Dubois can make an optional defence against any ranked fighter before April 22′, leaving the door open for a domestic dustup with Wardley.
The Ipswich puncher knocked out Frazer Clarke earlier this month to defend his British heavyweight title and is currently ranked No.12 by the IBF.
Dubois recently came on talkSPORT and welcomed a fight with his Queensberry stablemate but Warren expects them to meet further down the line.
“I don’t see that happening next,” Warren added. “Fabio will fight anyone, he is a fighting man, this is a man who comes from an unlicensed background.
“You’ve seen what he is all about. He goes in there and he gives everything.
“For me, that fight could be built into something mega there is no doubt about that.”
Another possibility that has been floated around is a clash with Joseph Parker.
The Kiwi isn’t currently ranked in the IBF top 15 due to his WBO ‘interim’ champion status but Warren likes the fight.
“I like most of the fights for him and that is one of them,” Warren said of a possible bout with Parker.
“But we will see we are not going to be rushed into anything and we will look where we are and what to consider and then make a considered choice.
“But it has got to be something that suits everybody that is involved and more importantly something that suits Daniel because he is the champion.”
Anthony Joshua’s defeat by Daniel Dubois affected those at the Ben Davison Performance Centre like “someone had died”, according to Moses Itauma.
The 35-year-old Joshua was in September stopped by Dubois in five unexpectedly one-sided and dramatic rounds, at the very least stalling the revival of his career that his trainer Ben Davison was considered to have overseen.
Joshua had impressed under Davison in victories over Otto Wallin and Francis Ngannou, and in so doing further enhanced Davison’s reputation at a time when Joshua’s decision to recruit him had already provided a lift to those also at his gym.
The talented Itauma – widely considered among Joshua’s successors towards the very top of the heavyweight division – has perhaps benefitted by observing him while they have used the same facilities, and after his return to the gym in preparation for his fight on December 21 with Demsey McKean found it to be suffering as a consequence of Joshua’s defeat.
Fabio Wardley, another heavyweight, was by then preparing for the rematch with Frazer Clarke in October that he won with Davison in his corner, but the 19-year-old Itauma told BoxingScene: “The first week, the gym was like someone had died. But I’m happy that it’s like that, because if we got back in the gym and [Davison’s] lovey, dovey; happy; cheering, I’d be like, ‘AJ’s just got knocked out and you’re here…’, so I’m happy.
“The gym vibe – in the middle of pads I went and said, ‘Ben, you’ve gotta liven this up – there’s other people in this gym’. He was like, ‘Yeah, I know, mate, but it’s just…’ – and it’s kind of the energy I want. If that was me, getting knocked out, I don’t really want people to go to the gym and be happy. I want that – not passion – but that commitment from my trainer. If he came to the gym and was all happy, it’d show how much commitment he’s got.”
Itauma had been asked about the criticism of Davison in the aftermath of Dubois-Joshua when he had said so, and he also intriguingly said: “I know a few things, but it’s not my place to speak on it. Ben Davison’s a great trainer, and in time it shall show how good of a trainer he is.
“It’s just typical boxing, though, isn’t it? Even ‘AJ’ – everyone’s calling him ‘X, Y, Z’, because he’s had that one loss. People are forgetting what he’s done for British boxing. Before AJ, the boxing scene was dead, and now he’s revived it. People are always going to talk; they’re always going to have something to say.
“It’s just doing the best for you and your family and your circle. AJ didn’t really have to take that fight, and like he said, he took a shot at greatness and came up short.
“With me, with this fight, I’m not deluded. I do believe I’m going to go in there and knock him out, but there’s a possibility that could happen to me. I just train, and hope that that’s not me.”
Itauma in July stopped Mariusz Wach before taking the holiday his manager Francis Warren and his promoter, Francis’ father Frank, had wanted.
In his first 19 months as a professional prizefighter he had fought 10 times, but after travelling to the Paris Olympics, Cyprus and Spain with the satisfaction of knowing that he had recorded 10 victories, he revealed that he became agitated because of his desperation to return to the ring.
“I done everything I wanted to do,” he said ahead of the fight with McKean, of Australia, on the undercard of Oleksandr Usyk-Tyson Fury II at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. “I went to the Olympics; went Cyprus; went Spain a couple of times. Went back home [to Kent, England], to see the family; I went everywhere, pretty much. I did have a good holiday.
LONDON, ENGLAND – APRIL 01: Anthony Joshua looks on prior to the Heavyweight fight between Anthony Joshua and Jermaine Franklin at The O2 Arena on April 01, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by James Chance/Getty Images)
“When I was out in Spain, I was thinking, ‘I can’t wait to get back in the gym – I’m actually tired of this’. So, yeah, I needed it. When I’ve taken a break from boxing, I’ve realised how much I need it. It’s addictive. I just can’t be the one sitting around not doing anything. I have to do something. When I came back from my holiday I was eager to get back into the gym. Enjoying my life’s not really for me, because I don’t really deserve to enjoy it yet. I need to make an impact on boxing first. Not even in boxing – in people’s lives.
“I was calling him out, so when Demsey McKean was like, ‘Okay, we’re gonna give you the fight’, I’m like, ‘Yeah, let’s crack on – let’s not waste no time’.
“It wasn’t just him. I called out Demsey McKean; [David] Adeleye; [Solomon] Dacres. I called out everyone. Obviously McKean said, ‘Yeah, I’ll have a bit of that’, so we’re here now.
“It don’t bother me. At the end of the day I go in there and fight – that’s my job. Making fights happen is not my job. I just leave that down to my team. Maybe they [potential opponents] have got to make their money’s worth.
“Boxing’s my job – I get in the ring and fight. Whatever happens outside the ring, that’s not down to me. Let’s say I fight Johnny Fisher in a year or so. I wouldn’t care about the titles. It’s just me and Johnny, the two English heavyweights, coming up. We have to fight, title or no title. Maybe I am coming up; maybe I’m not. I don’t care. I just want to get in the ring.
“Maybe I do want [Daniel] Dubois, but not because of his titles – because he’s the heavyweight on the British scene. He’s number one. He’s seen as the best, and I want that. I’m not bothered about the titles, and X, Y, Z, because you’ve got to look at the rankings.
“Some of these guys, I’m like, ‘How are you ranked?’. I’m not too bothered about the titles. I just want to be the best, really, and I just want to make the best fights happen. Even with Demsey McKean – I’m pretty sure this is for the Commonwealth title. I’m not really too bothered. I just wanted to fight Demsey. That’s just how it is.”
British boxer Tyson Fury, in a shocking admission, said he felt sorry for former two-time heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua following his surprise knockout defeat to IBF world heavyweight boxing champion Daniel Dubois at Wembley in September, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.
Joshua was the favourite going into the fight only to be overpowered by Dubois, who earned a knockout victory in the fifth round to hand the 32-year-old his fourth professional career loss.
Joshua’s bid to become a three-time world champion and return to the division’s top table ended dramatically and unexpectedly, with Dubois dropping him several times at Wembley Stadium in front of 98,000 fans before he landed the final blow, a crunching right-hand, in Round 5 that left Joshua sprawling on the canvas.
Promoter Eddie Hearn has confirmed that Joshua’s next contest will be a rematch with Dubois or a clash with Fury.
First, Fury, who has long been linked with a super fight with Joshua, will face unified champion Oleksandr Usyk on December 21 after losing to the Ukrainian in May.
The Gipsy King, while looking forward to a clash between the two, said he felt sorry for his rival.
“I feel sorry for him at the minute, being cleaned out in the last fight in five rounds, so he’ll have to do that again—or not—and then decide his future,” Fury told Sky News.
“When an adversary loses, and it’s not to you, you do feel down and depressed about it. I felt sad for him. It was heartbreaking to see a worthy opponent lose his crown.
“I’d still fight him whether he’s got five losses, 10 losses, or 20. It’s not important because, at this stage of our careers, it’s about having good fights.
“I think it would still be an entertaining and interesting fight for the paying pundit.”
However, Fury says his immediate goal is for a third fight with Usyk, after previous trilogies versus Deontay Wilder and Derek Chisora.
“I would like to have a trilogy with Usyk. It would be 1-1, and then we would have to do a rubber match, and I’d be the only heavyweight in history to have three trilogy. That would be quite impressive.”
anthony Joshua’s anticipated February rematch against Daniel Dubois is now uncertain, with promoter Eddie Hearn raising concerns over the quick recovery period. Joshua, who suffered a knockout loss to Dubois in September, has been focused on a comeback in Saudi Arabia.
However, Hearn hinted that a May rematch might be more realistic, explaining, “It’s a fast turnaround.” Despite Joshua’s desire to face Dubois again, Hearn is cautious about the timeline to ensure proper preparation.
Plans could also shift if Tyson Fury triumphs in his December rematch against Oleksandr Usyk, potentially setting up a high-stakes summer showdown between Fury and Joshua.
Anthony Joshua’s potential rematch with Daniel Dubois in February has been cast into doubt due to minor injuries and timing issues.
Eddie Hearn, Joshua’s promoter, told BBC Sport that whilst AJ “desperately wants revenge”, there are concerns about the tight turnaround.
“For the rematch to happen in February, training camp will have to start in a couple of weeks,” Hearn explained.
“There are always niggles and he had a few so physically it’s just a case of whether AJ is ready to do that.”
The uncertainty comes just months after Dubois shocked Joshua with a fifth-round knockout at Wembley Stadium in September.
Hearn further elaborated on the timing concerns in an interview with Sky Sports. “Ideally we’d like to return around May time,” he said.
“It does feel as though it’s coming on quite quickly.”
The promoter emphasised that Joshua has categorically expressed his desire for the rematch.
However, the decision on whether he will be ready for February is yet to be made.
“From a body perspective we could probably do with a little bit more time ideally,” Hearn added.
“Sometimes it’s not ideal and you just go for it. But we just need to decide are we going to be ready.”
Daniel Dubois, the IBF heavyweight champion, is set to defend his title in February regardless of Joshua’s decision.
With the Dubois rematch uncertain, Joshua may instead set his sights on a potential bout with Tyson Fury.
Hearn told BBC Sport: “It would be frustrating if we made the Dubois rematch and Fury won [vs Oleksandr Usyk]. Then we’re sitting there going ‘hang on a minute, we’re fighting Dubois but we could have fought Fury in May for the biggest fight in boxing.'”
The promoter added: “Win or lose, we can fight Fury next summer. But if he wins, AJ fights him for the world title.”
Frank Warren, Dubois’ promoter, told Sky Sports: “Daniel will defend his title in February and if it’s not Joshua then it’ll be against somebody who is ranked in the top five.”
Warren added that Dubois would take the rematch “in a heartbeat” but questioned whether Joshua’s team would advise him to do so.
The IBF rules allow Dubois a nine-month window for a voluntary defence, which opened the possibility for the Joshua rematch.
However, after this period, Dubois must fulfil a mandatory title defence.
Fury is set to face Usyk on 21 December, with the outcome potentially influencing Joshua’s next move.
