Joshua’s camp planning one 2025 fight, awaits Fury decision

Former unified heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua is sidelined after elbow surgery but has an eye on a few options when he returns to the ring this year.

Chief among those options is a highly anticipated all-British showdown with Tyson Fury. The two stars have been circling each other for years without a fight coming to fruition. After Fury’s back-to-back losses to Oleksandr Usyk for the undisputed heavyweight championship last year, it appeared that there was a window of opportunity to make the fight. However, that window was slammed shut by Fury, who abruptly announced his retirement in January. It appeared that Fury was teasing a return earlier this month, but he took to social media to state that he is happily retired.

“This is what retirement looks like for the Gypsy King,” Fury said in a post on Instagram. “Not too shabby. I’m in no rush at all to come back boxing, and get my face punched in for what? What would I return for? I asked that question. So here we are. I’m retired and I’m staying retired. I’ve got nothing to prove to anybody and nothing to return for.”

With the uncertainty surrounding Fury’s return, Joshua’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, addressed his fighter’s future once he returns.

“He’ll only fight once this year,” Hearn told ESPN. “He’ll be good to go in the middle of September, and by then, we will know for sure if Fury is going to return or not. But [Joshua’s opponent] will also depend on what happens in the [Daniel] Dubois vs. Usyk fight. I like our spot in that respect, and if none of them are available, we’re going to fight someone else.”

Hearn said that Joshua, 35, would like to avenge his stunning fifth-round knockout loss to Dubois last September if the opportunity presents itself. But if the Fury fight surfaces, that is what they will target first. Hearn isn’t sure Fury’s retirement will stick, regardless of what the former heavyweight champion says on social media.

“I just don’t think he’ll be able to leave it alone,” Hearn said. “You know why? Because he’s not declining. He’s still at the peak of his powers and it’s very difficult to walk away from a fight like Anthony Joshua when you’ve still got it. And that’s why I believe it’ll happen.”

Another option for Joshua is a showdown with former heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder, 39. A Joshua-Wilder fight was discussed several years ago when Joshua was the unified champion and Wilder held the WBC title. The two sides couldn’t come to financial terms for the fight and went their separate ways. The two sides were aligned for a potential fight again in 2023 but Wilder was stopped in consecutive fights against Joseph Parker and Zhilei Zhang.

Should Wilder defeat journeyman Tyrrell Herndon in June, a Joshua-Wilder fight could be back on the table.

“If Wilder comes back and looks sensational, we’ll probably start talking about it again,” Hearn said. “I don’t rule it out at all. It’s always going to be an exciting fight, but certainly the focus is on Fury first and possibly Dubois if he can get through Usyk.”