Promoter Eddie Hearn says Anthony Joshua shall be combating subsequent within the first quarter of 2025, in Might or June. First, Joshua (28-4, 25 KOs) will anticipate the result of the December twenty first rematch between unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury earlier than deciding.
When Will Joshua Combat Subsequent?
Matchroom promoter Hearn informed DAZN that Joshua will return in Might or June. Assuming Fury will get crushed once more by Usyk, Hearn might want to discover a semi-soft opponent for Joshua to battle except he needs to make the Joshua-Fury match in that dire scenario. With fighters coming off losses, the match can be mocked by followers, and it wouldn’t be taken significantly.
You’d prefer to assume that Joshua and Fury would select to get a win below their belts earlier than assembly, however I doubt it. The odor of cash can be too robust for these two to carry off on their match, particularly if their self-confidence is gone. Fury has already misplaced his swagger after getting crushed by Usyk earlier on Might 18th, and excuses are clear indicators that, mentally, he’s wracked by self-doubt.
Hearn has been delaying the choice on Joshua’s subsequent opponent since his fifth-round knockout loss to IBF heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois on September twenty first. How the younger lion Dubois beat Joshua made it troublesome for Hearn and AJ to insist on a right away rematch.
When Joshua misplaced to Andy Ruiz Jr on June 1, 2019, AJ and Hearn agreed to battle a right away rematch. The identical is true for when Joshua misplaced to Usyk for the primary time on September 25, 2021. This time, with Joshua getting knocked out by the 27-year-old Dubois, it’s totally different. Hearn and Joshua aren’t wanting to run it again with Dubois. It’s simply too dangerous.
The probabilities of success are dim, and it could completely mess up the Fury battle if there ever is one. His Excellency Turki Alalshikh says a battle between AJ and Fury can nonetheless occur if one or each lose, however it could nonetheless be a nasty look on the 2 British fighter’s components to enter the match with both of them coming off losses.
It’s logical for Joshua to attend on the Usyk-Fury 2 rematch as a result of the battle followers wish to see is between him and Fury. That battle will usher in large cash and generate curiosity worldwide.
The dangerous information is that the 36-year-old Fury (34-1-1, 24 KOs) is prone to lose to WBA, WBC, and WBO heavyweight champion Usyk (22-0, 14 KOs) on December twenty first, spoiling a lot of the curiosity in a match towards Joshua.
The Dubois Loss and Rematch Issues
Dubois dropped Joshua 4 instances, as soon as in rounds 1, 3, 4, and 5, to get the knockout on September twenty first at Wembley Stadium in London. The way in which Dubois obliterated Joshua would have been a nasty enterprise transfer on his and Hearn’s half to battle him once more.
There’s an excessive amount of cash on the road for Joshua with the Fury match and different fights for him to sacrifice his profession going up towards Dubois a second time.
If Joshua had been youthful, he may undertake the safety-first Wladimir Klitschko type and outbox Dubois, however not at 35. He’s previous to drastically change his combating type for this match, as he’d carried out in his rematch towards an out-of-shape Andy Ruiz on December 7, 2019.
