Hearn: “Joshua Will Fight Fury Or Dubois Next. No Other Interest”

According to his promoter Eddie Hearn, former two-time heavyweight champ Anthony Joshua is currently “in a really good position. ” This is despite the fact that the last time we saw AJ box, he was quite brutally KO’d by Daniel Dubois. But Hearn, in speaking with BBC Sport, said Joshua will be taking a big fight next time out, either a rematch with Dubois or a fight with Tyson Fury.

“It’s weird saying it after a knockout defeat, but AJ is actually in a really good position,” Hearn said. “We’re going to fight Dubois or Fury next. That’s it—no other interest or warm-up. AJ desperately wants revenge, but the only issue is timing. Training camp will have to start in a couple of weeks for the rematch to happen in February. It would be frustrating if we made the Dubois fight and Fury won (the rematch with 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.’ Win or lose, we can fight Fury next summer. But if he wins, AJ fights him for the world title.”

This all sounds great for Joshua, but things may not work out the way Hearn suggests. For one thing, if Fury does beat Usyk in their rematch, there is reportedly a contract in place for the two to fight again in a rubber match. Meanwhile, Frank Warren has said Dubois will definitely fight in February and that if it’s not against Joshua, it will be against another top-five contender.

And then there is the matter of what happens if Fury loses, and badly, in the Usyk rematch—might Fury decide to call it a career and retire? It’s possible. For Joshua, it seems it will come down to whether or not he goes ahead with the risky Dubois rematch in February or waits and sees what happens in Saudi Arabia on December 21.

But if Joshua doesn’t secure the February fight with Dubois and then sees Fury either defeat Usyk and then sign on to fight the Ukrainian a third time or if Fury loses in December and then retires, Joshua will be out of luck as far as getting either of the two big fights, Hearn will happen for him in his next ring outing.

At this stage, all we fans can do is watch and see how everything goes with heavyweight. But there is a good chance Joshua’s next fight may be against someone other than Dubois or Fury.