Anthony Joshua in talks for two-fight deal

[gilgamesh]

I still see Fury v Joshua as the career high pay day for both.

No doubt about it. You could sell out Wembley with it twice if the 1st one is even Semi competitive.

[mickey1975]

I still see Fury v Joshua as the career high pay day for both.

No doubt about it. You could sell out Wembley with it twice if the 1st one is even Semi competitive.

Wembley won't generate Riyadh money.

[KiwiRider]

I would be surpsied if Turki accepted this. Mediocre at best.

X2
It's just too low level for that time of year, maybe UK in a 40,000 seat venue. AJ's stock has dropped considerably so I don't get why they still think he is headline against anyone bar Fury.

[gilgamesh]

I still see Fury v Joshua as the career high pay day for both.

No doubt about it. You could sell out Wembley with it twice if the 1st one is even Semi competitive.

Wembley won't generate Riyadh money.

Well wherever they wanna do it. They could do it twice if it's even semi competitive. I figure they'd only do it twice if Joshua wins the 1st one though. If Fury wins, he'd take his win, and leave well enough alone I suspect. Unless he won real easy.

[Jimmy2025]

No doubt about it. You could sell out Wembley with it twice if the 1st one is even Semi competitive.

Wembley won't generate Riyadh money.

Well wherever they wanna do it. They could do it twice if it's even semi competitive. I figure they'd only do it twice if Joshua wins the 1st one though. If Fury wins, he'd take his win, and leave well enough alone I suspect. Unless he won real easy.

Which is precisely why Usyk shouldn't entertain Fury again. Tyson could fight him 99 times, lose them all, win the hundredth and say "get f*cked, you dosser, no rematch".

[gilgamesh]

Wembley won't generate Riyadh money.

Well wherever they wanna do it. They could do it twice if it's even semi competitive. I figure they'd only do it twice if Joshua wins the 1st one though. If Fury wins, he'd take his win, and leave well enough alone I suspect. Unless he won real easy.

Which is precisely why Usyk shouldn't entertain Fury again. Tyson could fight him 99 times, lose them all, win the hundredth and say "get f*cked, you dosser, no rematch".

Well he already entertained him again, and beat him again so that's a moot point.

[Coco]

Wembley won't generate Riyadh money.

Well wherever they wanna do it. They could do it twice if it's even semi competitive. I figure they'd only do it twice if Joshua wins the 1st one though. If Fury wins, he'd take his win, and leave well enough alone I suspect. Unless he won real easy.

Which is precisely why Usyk shouldn't entertain Fury again. Tyson could fight him 99 times, lose them all, win the hundredth and say "get f*cked, you dosser, no rematch".

Yeah but if Fury is by far the best earner out there

I'm guessing that Uysk will want to retire within 2 years, there are no legacy fights for him, he is just gonna take the biggest money

[Glass Joe]

I got a feeling hearn will match AJ and Allen as AJ return fight.

[Ruthless-RKO]

ANTHONY JOSHUA READY TO COME BACK STRONGER AFTER YEAR ON SIDELINES

Anthony Joshua has vowed to "take the heavyweight division by storm" once he has completed a year out of the ring.

The 35-year-old two-time unified world heavyweight champion has not fought since he was knocked out by Daniel Dubois at Wembley Stadium in September.

AJ (28-4, 25 KOs), who is the Ring’s No. 5-rated heavyweight, made no secret of his desire to ensure his 33rd fight was the long-awaited battle of Britain with Tyson Fury.

But when Fury announced his surprise retirement earlier this year, it meant Joshua had to look elsewhere for opponents.

He is yet to find one but did use his time out of the gym to undergo surgery on a troublesome elbow and is now plotting his return.

There is still no announcement on a likely date or opponent, although Deontay Wilder has recently expressed his interest in securing a fight with AJ after ending his own hiatus last month.

Joshua is expected to fight again before the end of 2025 and he insists his spell of inactivity will only ensure he comes back better than ever.

At an event in London on Tuesday night, Joshua said: “Fighting is what I do, it’s my life. What I did was take a year out for the first time in my career, that’s 12-13 years as a professional. I took a year out to get my body right.

“I’m at a different stage of my career where I can look at time a bit differently, I haven’t got lots of years in front of me so I’ve got to make an executive decision on what I do next.

“So the minute I come back you know I’m coming back with a bang rather than just rolling through and going through the motions.

“I took my time out to ensure I come back fully active, fully ready to go and to take the division by storm. I’ll take whatever fights are needed, every fight is a big fight.”

[Ruthless-RKO]

Anthony Joshua should return early in 2026 before targeting Tyson Fury 'last roll of the dice' mega-fight

Anthony Joshua is most likely to return to the ring in early 2026 in a comeback fight; AJ would use the next bout to tune up for a major fight next summer; promoter Eddie Hearn is still targeting the hugely-anticipated clash with British rival Tyson Fury for Joshua: "That's the big focus"

Anthony Joshua is on track to return in a comeback fight in early 2026 before a "roll of the dice" blockbuster next summer.

After Joshua's loss to Daniel Dubois last September, a lingering elbow injury would not heal and eventually required an operation. That has kept the 35-year-old out of action but he has now resumed training.

His next fight back will most likely be in January or the start of February. He would not return to an immediate contest with a top-level heavyweight but will target a tune-up bout against world top-15 calibre opponent before pursuing the biggest names in the division.

The ultimate target, though, remains Tyson Fury, a great all-British showdown that has so far eluded Joshua.

"Right now all that's in my mind in an ideal scenario is to fight Tyson Fury next year. That's the big focus," Eddie Hearn, Joshua's promoter told Sky Sports.

"From a common-sense perspective the fight has to happen in 2026 but common sense and Fury's decisions don't always gel together. He's got to want to come back.

"It's a personal decision."

It means there is no room for error in Joshua's immediate return.

"We've got to choose carefully for the next fight and I think the best way in all of this is just to be honest and say the next fight will be a comeback fight to build into a roll of the dice next summer," Hearn said. "We want that to be against Tyson Fury. If it's not, it's going to be a massive fight

"We need a top-15 guy [next]. It's not going to be Fury, Usyk, Dubois, all of those top guys. We need someone so that AJ can come back in a competitive fight after being out for what will be over a year and get himself ready for what will be one last roll of the dice.

"A defeat now at this stage of his career would be devastating to those plans. So we need to get it right."

Joshua will likely want to set the date for the next fight soon. "He's back training and that's a great sign," Hearn noted. "A lot of the sites are talking about January or very early February. I wouldn't say he's in any rush."

The comeback fight could be against an opponent like Tony Yoka, or the winner of the Efe Ajagba-Frank Sanchez IBF eliminator, with Ghana one of the potential destinations for the next bout.

"There's been no conversations with [Yoka] about the fight but it's not going to Fury, Usyk, Dubois, Moses [Itauma], Parker, it's just not going to be one of those guys next," Hearn said.

"If there was a way to win a world title it would be amazing to see him become a three-time world heavyweight champion," Hearn added.

"At the moment Usyk has all the belts. There's going to be some real fragmentation in the division because Parker's the mandatory [for the WBO due next], the IBF have got the final eliminator pending for the mandatory. Usyk's going to throw a belt away at some point.

"I think AJ's in a good spot in that respect. At the moment it's just about nailing the preparation coming back better than ever in the right fight to prepare yourself for what could be a final roll of the dice."

While Joshua is entering the final stage of his career, that could still be extended beyond 2026.

"It depends on the performance. I always said that 2026 would likely be his last year in the sport. But now with the delayed comeback, probably [could go till] 2027. If he was to get beat in his next fight that would probably be it, because that's a fight that he's expected to win," Hearn said.

"Then if it's Fury or Usyk, Dubois, whoever it is. Any defeat it's going to really make you consider your position.

"He wants to fight in big fights but he just wants to make sure that he's ready for those big fights when they come."

There is no guarantee Fury will bring his retirement to an end next year though.

"I think the minute you try and persuade him, is where it probably goes all wrong," Hearn said of Fury. "You've got to let him do his own thing. When he's ready and if he's up for it, you'll know about it.

"I think there's a feeling that the fight will happen but we've been here so many times before and if you start trying to guess what Tyson Fury's going to do next, it starts to become a very confusing game. But if he's going to come back, I just don't see what else you come back for.

"I don't think he'll go straight in for AJ. Hopefully he can get [his comeback] fight in early 2026 and then we'll have ours and then we finally get it on. But who knows?"

He does, though, believe that Joshua still has a point to prove.

"Motivated. I think a lot of people are writing him off," the promoter warned.

"He's focused. There's still plenty of drama left in this story yet."

[KiwiRider]

I don't know about the rest of you, but AJ vs Fury has gone completely off the boil for me.
I'm not even sure I'd watch it, let alone pay for it.
I got burned paying for Brook vs Khan, like a mug. Not doing that again.

[Ruthless-RKO]

I don't know about the rest of you, but AJ vs Fury has gone completely off the boil for me.
I'm not even sure I'd watch it, let alone pay for it.
I got burned paying for Brook vs Khan, like a mug. Not doing that again.

That’s last fight I bought too.

Probably didn’t pay as much as you did.

[mickey1975]

Extremely cryptic pod about AJ on Terry Chapendama's Beyond Boxing. Let me know what you think of it anyone who's listened.

[gregregegg]

Extremely cryptic pod about AJ on Terry Chapendama's Beyond Boxing. Let me know what you think of it anyone who's listened.

not as cryptic as this comment... as someone that will not watch that pod I ask.... what about it interested you? what's the scoop?

[mickey1975]

Extremely cryptic pod about AJ on Terry Chapendama's Beyond Boxing. Let me know what you think of it anyone who's listened.

not as cryptic as this comment... as someone that will not watch that pod I ask.... what about it interested you? what's the scoop?

Because I always listen to the pod. He doesn't reveal the scoop, he leaves the listener to piece it all together.

[gregregegg]

Extremely cryptic pod about AJ on Terry Chapendama's Beyond Boxing. Let me know what you think of it anyone who's listened.

not as cryptic as this comment... as someone that will not watch that pod I ask.... what about it interested you? what's the scoop?

Because I always listen to the pod. He doesn't reveal the scoop, he leaves the listener to piece it all together.

So what did you peice together? AJ is gunna take summer off with a few therapeutic exceptions to recover from minor surgery and then come back and call out fury but fight Louis Ortiz's dad?

[mickey1975]

not as cryptic as this comment... as someone that will not watch that pod I ask.... what about it interested you? what's the scoop?

Because I always listen to the pod. He doesn't reveal the scoop, he leaves the listener to piece it all together.

So what did you peice together? AJ is gunna take summer off with a few therapeutic exceptions to recover from minor surgery and then come back and call out fury but fight Louis Ortiz's dad?

I'll give it another listen tomorrow as the conclusion I came to was too wild.

[gregregegg]

Because I always listen to the pod. He doesn't reveal the scoop, he leaves the listener to piece it all together.

So what did you peice together? AJ is gunna take summer off with a few therapeutic exceptions to recover from minor surgery and then come back and call out fury but fight Louis Ortiz's dad?

I'll give it another listen tomorrow as the conclusion I came to was too wild.

Oh please let me know that wild interpretation… I already think you’re a crazy fury fan boy…. But more can’t hurt hahaha.

[mickey1975]

So what did you peice together? AJ is gunna take summer off with a few therapeutic exceptions to recover from minor surgery and then come back and call out fury but fight Louis Ortiz's dad?

I'll give it another listen tomorrow as the conclusion I came to was too wild.

Oh please let me know that wild interpretation… I already think you’re a crazy fury fan boy…. But more can’t hurt hahaha.

Oh, the old fan boy accusations.... Because I defended him for the last 17 years whilst everyone said he was sh!t? I think I might have been proven slightly correct on that one, mate.
P.S it's nothing to do with Tyson.

[JC]

Episode doesn’t seem to be up anymore.

[mickey1975]

Episode doesn’t seem to be up anymore.

It is "My essay on feminism".

[JC]

Episode doesn’t seem to be up anymore.

It is "My essay on feminism".

Thanks. Didn't realise as I was looking for a Joshua themed title.

[mickey1975]

Episode doesn’t seem to be up anymore.

It is "My essay on feminism".

Thanks. Didn't realise as I was looking for a Joshua themed title.

It's a play on words, Femi being his real name.

[joshj909]

It is "My essay on feminism".

Thanks. Didn't realise as I was looking for a Joshua themed title.

It's a play on words, Femi being his real name.

Isn't it just his middle name?

[Ruthless-RKO]

Thanks. Didn't realise as I was looking for a Joshua themed title.

It's a play on words, Femi being his real name.

Isn't it just his middle name?

Mickey is insistent that it's his only name.

I think it's Oluwafemi

Who was it on the board that kept referring Tyson Fury as Luke?