Joshua Returns To Training – What’s Next?
Anthony Joshua has returned to training, raising question marks over his next opponent.
Joshua suffered a stoppage defeat in his last fight against Daniel Dubois, as he missed out on becoming the IBF Heavyweight Champion. Joshua was dropped several times as Dubois stopped him in the fifth round. There were talks over a rematch. However, it failed to materialize, as Dubois will now face Joseph Parker on February 22. The winner of Dubois vs. Parker will be in a position to fight Oleksandr Usyk for the Undisputed Heavyweight Title.
Joshua had been expected to face Tyson Fury in his next fight. Fury’s second consecutive loss against Usyk left AJ as the biggest fight out there for him. However, Fury announced his retirement from the sport after the second Usyk loss. Joshua has to consider other options. He could take on Deontay Wilder. Wilder was scheduled to fight Curtis Harper in April. But that fight is now off.
The Bronze Bomber has lost two of his last fights against Joseph Parker and Zhilei Zhang. He has only secured one victory out of four fights since working with Malik Scott. That was against Robert Helenius. Wilder was on course to face Joshua in 2018. But talks broke down as both men would lose their belts.
Who Is Next?
Another alternative for Joshua is to face Derek Chisora. The latter is coming off a unanimous decision win against Otto Wallin. That took his record to 36-13-0. Chisora has said he will retire after his 50th fight, meaning he could fight Joshua in his last bout. He called out Joshua alongside Usyk and Dubois in his post-fight comments after the Wallin win.
“Anthony Joshua has done unbelievably well for boxing in the United Kingdom. Olympic gold medal, world titles, stadium fights . AJ was the one who took boxing to Saudi Arabia and opened up all the doors for everyone else to follow him and make money. I have watched him sell out stadiums in Cardiff and London and Saudi, so he always has to be given respect. But if the public really wants to see us get that fight on, we will get it on,” Chisora said
Alternatively, Joshua could also explore an opportunity with Dillian Whyte. Whyte was meant to box Joshua in 2023 in their rematch. But the fight was called off after Whyte failed a PED test. Whyte was subsequently cleared as it was put down to contamination. Whyte is now set to face Joe Joyce in his next bout. AJ could target the winner of that fight.
Equally, there is an outside chance of a Martin Bakolie fight. The latter recalled facing Joshua in sparring, stating that he got the better of him. Reports also indicated that a fight with Bakole had been agreed to take place in Africa. But Eddie Hearn shut down those claims, stating that there was no agreement in place. However, he did not rule out a fight, moving forward, leaving Joshua with plenty to consider.
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