Two-time world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua (28-4, 25 KOs) will be back in the ring towards the end of the year, confirmed promoter Eddie Hearn.
Eddie Hearn told SunSport, “AJ will be here tonight. We’ve just started pinging a few opponents backwards and forwards, nothing really to talk about, but you will see AJ in the ring November or December.”
The 35-year-old Londoner was defeated by British rival Daniel Dubois in his last appearance at Wembley Stadium in London in September 2024.
By the time Joshua fights next, he would have had over 13 months out of the ring, which will be the longest hiatus of his entire professional boxing career.
After defeating Andy Ruiz Jr. in their 2019 rematch to even the score, AJ didn’t fight again for a whole year later, then there was 11 months separating his two fights with Oleksander Usyk, of which he lost both in points.
Joshua explained why he has taken the longest holiday of his boxing career so far, “I took a year out, first time in about 12 to 13 years as a professional, not even including the amateur stuff.
“But I took a year out, get my body right. I’m at a different stage in my career where I can look at time a bit differently.
“I’m all these years in front of me like the main man here, so I gotta make like really executive decisions about what I do next.
“So the minute I come back, you know I’ll come back with a bang rather than just keep rolling through and just going with the motions of the sport.
“I just thought, let me take some time out, so when I do come back, I come back fully active and ready to go again, and take the division by storm again!”
With Wilder back in the heavyweight mix once again and Turki Alalshikh recently confirming the return of Tyson Fury in 2026, there’s renewed hope that this trio could actually fight each other finally.
Hearn shed a little light on the prospects of Wilder and Joshua locking horns, “I think it’s a great fight. I mean, there’s jeopardy in it, it’s dangerous.
“Originally, I was speaking to Shelly [Finkel] about Dave Allen.
“I kind of get the feeling that Wilder wants to get a few fights under the belt, get a bit of confidence back.
“I think it’s great to see him returning, it’s really important that Deontay is still in the heavyweight division.”
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