Anthony Joshua is considering offers to fight in Ghana and Nigeria before a megafight with Tyson Fury in 2026, according to Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn.
Joshua (28-4, 25 KOs) turns 36 next week and has not boxed since a knockout loss to English rival Daniel Dubois in September 2024. He has now recovered from surgery for an elbow injury and Hearn said he will box again either late this year, or early 2026.
Martin Bakole and former WBC world heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder are reportedly in contention to be Joshua’s next opponent after the biggest layoff of his professional career.
Bakole (21-2-1, 16 KOs), 33, from Congo, is an option for Joshua to fight in Nigeria and is without a win in his last two fights after a second-round stoppage loss to Joseph Parker as a late substitute opponent in February, and then a draw vs. Efe Ajagba in May. Wilder (44-4-1, 32 KOs), who turns 40 this month, from Alabama, recorded only his second win in six fights in June and expects to fight early 2026.
“I thought initially no to AJ fighting this year, but now possibly,” Hearn told ESPN.
“I went to Dubai to see him, and he is really back and locked in, zoned in. Getting over the defeat took him a good few months, then he had the injury, then he went back to camp, then he rested, but then it went again and he needed an operation, so that was another three months or so.
“It has been a really frustrating period. But when I saw him in Dubai I just really wanted to look him in the eye and find out if he wanted a quick money grab before you call it quits, or do you really want it, and the answer is the latter, he really wants to become three-time world heavyweight champion. That’s his motivation.”
Hearn also went on to reveal there had been approaches made from Africa, something which Joshua wished to do before he retired from the sport.
“We have had an approach from Ghana, and now Nigeria. I think AJ fighting in Africa would be incredible.
“If he fights again in February or March, he will have been out of the ring for 18 months. It’s a huge amount of time to come back versus a top ten heavyweight but also it’s Anthony Joshua and you have got these big site deals so you can’t just fight some random geezer who is ranked 100th in the world over eight rounds. If he wasn’t Anthony Joshua, you might actually do that but it’s very difficult to do that in his position.”
Joshua and Hearn’s top priority is to secure a long-awaited fight with English rival and fellow two-time world champion Fury (34-2-1, 24 KOs), who has not boxed since undisputed world heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk outpointed him for the second time. Joshua, who has also twice lost to Ukrainian Usyk on points, and 37-year-old Fury have held talks to face each other for last five years without a fight happening.
Hearn recently held talks about making Joshua vs. Fury with Turki Alalshikh, chairman of the General Entertainment Authority in Saudi Arabia and the most powerful figure in global boxing.
“I’ve never heard him speak about anyone like he speaks about Tyson Fury, not just wanting to fight him, but saying he can’t wait to knock him spark out,” Hearn told ESPN.
“I’ve never heard him talk like that before. He really wants to fight him, and really wants beat him. But he is also looking at the division and how it is going to fragment a little bit with the belts, and also he’s looking at getting active.
“He was saying to me, ‘You know how some people go away on a smaller show just to get some rounds in, people go to Mexico to have a fight off the radar.’ That’s difficult to do when you are probably the most famous boxer in the world. But when you have been out for a year or so, it’s very difficult to go back into a big fight without getting that momentum.
“When we fight Fury or who ever is going to be in the big fight in 2026, we would just like to get a bit of momentum going, which is good news for fight fans because he wants to fight, he wants to be active. When I said to him you have probably got another 18 months and he said ‘Why are you putting a number on it?’.
“I was in Riyadh last week with His Excellency and he has a plan he wants to put in place for AJ as well which inevitably includes the Tyson Fury fight. To be honest, I think Turki Alalshikh is probably the only one who can make the Tyson Fury fight because both guys are going to want a huge amount of money and Turki has a reputation for making the biggest fights in the sport. And the biggest fight in the sport is Anthony Joshua versus Tyson Fury, no question about it.
“We are ready. One of the great things about Turki is that he will individually do the deal with both sides. You do your deal with Turki, and then allow him to do the other side.”
