Anthony Joshua Issues Fierce Demand for the Fight ‘More Than Anything’ — Eddie Hearn Reveals Ruthless Masterplan to Finally Conquer Tyson Fury

Anthony Joshua wants “biggest fight in the sport” with Tyson Fury; Fury has now indicated he wants to box again next year; Promoter Eddie Hearn outlines the plan that would lead Joshua to Fury – a fight in February first but there’s a chance he could box before the end of 2025

Plans are being set in place that could lead Anthony Joshua to “the biggest fight in the sport” with Tyson Fury.

Fury, who has sat out the entirety of 2025, has indicated that he does want to box again next year.

Anthony Joshua’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, has welcomed Fury’s expected return

“It’s exactly what everybody wanted to hear,” Hearn told Sky Sports. “The thing that AJ wants more than anything, is to fight Tyson Fury.

“That is the biggest fight in the sport… I’m hopeful.

“The only thing that is close to that level [for Joshua] is to win the world heavyweight championship again, which is a big motivation for him.”

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The showdown with Fury would be next summer, with Joshua boxing at least once, but possibly twice, before then.

There’s a “small chance” Joshua could box before the end of this year and he will fight early in 2026, potentially in February.

“The plan’s very important,” Hearn said. “The most important thing is making sure he’s 110 per cent confident and ready to beat Tyson Fury. We need to be able to plan that for AJ to make sure that he’s in the best place possible for what will be the biggest moment of his career, I believe.

“If he fights this year, that will be a pure run out. It won’t be a top 15 guy,” the promoter continued. “He’s either going to have those two fights before Tyson Fury, if that can get made, or he’s going to have the one fight in February.

“We haven’t really decided yet but he’s keen to get active.”

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Fury would, in all likelihood, have a tune-up bout himself too. That could be a risk. Previous contests with Otto Wallin, for instance, and Francis Ngannou were warm-ups for bigger fights that turned out to be trickier than anticipated.

But Hearn reflected: “If he can’t win the tune-up, then he shouldn’t be getting in the ring [with AJ].

“We want both guys firing on all cylinders to give the public the best version of them and if we can’t get the best version of them, then maybe we don’t do the fight.

“What we don’t want is two guys who have been out for a year and a half, getting in there and they’re both a little bit rusty.

“We need to allow these guys, who have been out of the ring for a long time, to be at their absolute pomp when they meet each other.”

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Dave Allen could put himself into consideration as a potential opponent for Joshua ahead of the Fury fight, if the Doncaster man can beat Arslanbek Makhmudov on Saturday.

“All I’m saying is a victory would probably put him in that top 20, top 15 in the world, which he already is with the WBA and we’re going to be picking from a list like that. And he’s British. And he’s very popular. I don’t know who it would be [for the AJ warm-up],” Hearn said.

“I don’t think there’s one heavyweight in the world, outside of Oleksandr Usyk, that you couldn’t match Dave Allen with if he wins on Saturday.

“I even put Anthony Joshua into that mix, I put Tyson Fury into that mix because they’re two guys that are going to be having a ‘comeback’ fight. [Moses] Itauma, Derek Chisora, Andy Ruiz, Deontay Wilder, Agit Kabayel, Zhilei Zhang.”

A major decision looms for Anthony Joshua as he weighs up his next opponent and the venue for his upcoming bout.

Anthony Joshua must decide soon whether or not to return to the ring and who to fight and where The fighter has not boxed since he lost to Daniel Dubois at Wembley over a year ago

According to Frank Smith, CEO of Matchroom, the next move in Anthony Joshua’s career will be decided soon. “I think with AJ, he’s had time out of the ring, the longest period he’s been out of the ring. I think he needed it. He hasn’t stopped for 12, 13 years since he turned pro.”

“For him, I think it’s been perfect just to have some time away to focus on himself while he comes back for what is probably the most important part of his career so far and the most important decision he’ll make,” Frank Smith.

There has been speculation about the heavyweight’s return, with several opportunities, including Jake Paul, Tyson Fury and a fight in Ghana, being discussed. A fight against Fury is thought to take place later in 2026.

“There has been a lot of talk about offers in Ghana. I have gone to Ghana to meet with those guys and about organizing a show there, I went to the stadium in Accra,” Smith added. “It would be sensational to do an event there, like an event that would never be forgotten. Obviously, there are the big fights against someone like Tyson Fury, which we all want to see.

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“And I think, look, I see that happening. I saw Frank Warren talk about it as well. Tyson Fury talking about a comeback, which is great. So I think that’s a fight we’ll see in 2026. What’s next? Let’s see. Let’s see how things go over the next week or two. I think if he’s going to come out this year, he’d have to make a decision very soon, if not early next year. But I’m sure we’ll see AJ back in the best shape of his life. He needs to be 100 percent when he gets back into this.”

The idea of staging fights in Accra, having seen it, appeals to Smith now more than ever, and if Matchroom promotes there, it might not just be for Joshua. “It’s one of those moments. Look, we’ve been lucky, and I’ve personally been lucky, to work on some incredible events over the last 16, 17 years, and moments that I’ll never forget

But walking through that stadium and also seeing an event they had done previously on a much smaller scale, thinking about 60,000 people in this stadium, in the atmosphere they would create, is one of those moments that you think would last forever, that memory. It’s not something that a year later you say: ‘do you remember?’ It would be something you would talk about for 10, 20, 30, 40 years. So it’s something I’m very interested in making happen. Obviously, it has to make sense, you know, overall. So we’ll see. But I’m very confident that very soon we’ll be doing events in Ghana with the Legacy team, whether it’s with AJ or someone else.

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Smith believes AJ’s waters will become much clearer over the next week or 10 days. With Matchroom ready to reveal a batch of dates to close out the year, more pieces will be falling into place elsewhere. But Smith does not believe that the rematch between Leigh Wood and Josh Warrington is something that is on the agenda. Despite the two fighters still throwing darts at each other on social media, a return of their thrilling fight is not something immediate

There are a lot of important conversations for next year’s events,” Smith said. “I think Leigh Wood will take another fight. We pushed for that fight. Obviously, the [Michael] Conlan fight could also be interesting. The Josh Padley fight could also be interesting for Josh Warrington. Great, great fight in Yorkshire. So, you know, a lot of options there, but the plan for Josh is to get back in the ring in January. Leigh Wood, very unlikely now.”

And the return of heavyweight Johnny Fisher will be on the Monte Carlo card on December 6, an event that Smith said: “I think it’s the best card we’ve done there