Former unified heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua is still currently contemplating his next career move after his stoppage loss to Daniel Dubois, but his Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn tells ESPN that
he’s been fielding and considering offers to fight in both Ghana and Nigeria before he looks to target a long awaited fight with Tyson Fury in 2026.
The current names being floated as potential opponents for a Joshua fight in Africa include both Martin Bakole and Deontay Wilder, the latter of which was a huge fight to make years ago but never could quite come together, and both Wilder and Joshua’s stock have both dropped considerably since that time.
“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.”
Despite the offers on the table, Hearn insists that a showdown with Fury is their top priority, although it’s almost impossible to determine what the mercurial Fury will end up doing, as he’s announced his retirement from the sport of boxing time and time again, with him recently saying the last time was for good. Take that with a grain of salt, of course.
