Anthony Joshua remains on the sidelines, ready for action. And the good news is, two potential opponents for the Brit have been confirmed by his promoter, Matchroom Boxing head Eddie Hearn. However, this new development could end the possibility of an all-British clash between Joshua and Tyson Fury for now. 

You see, the former unified heavyweight champion is coming off a 2nd round knockout win over Francis Ngannou and a fifth-round knockout loss at the hands of the IBF heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois, both of which came thanks to His Excellency Turki Alalshikh. Joshua was expected to have a rematch against Dubois, but he chose to have surgery instead on his elbow. 

The 35-year-old’s promoter later revealed that the surgery was a success, and ‘AJ’ will return to training after six weeks of recovery. Following this, some reports had claimed that the 35-year-old is in conversation for a three-fight deal with the Saudis. “Yeah, that’s not true, we are actually discussing a two-fight deal with Riyadh Season,” Hearn corrected in a chat with Boxing Scene.

He further added that he had a meeting with His Excellency during the Canelo Alvarez vs. William Scull fight last month, where they discussed the matter, adding, “We want to box sometime this year, October, November, December.” However, before moving forward with the fight, Hearn is waiting for the result of Oleksandr Usyk vs. Daniel Dubois, both of whom have defeated ‘AJ.’

He highlighted that he is waiting to see what Tyson Fury does because of speculations about ‘The Gypsy King’ coming out of retirement, and if that doesn’t happen, he has other options. “We’ll see what happens with Dubois-Usyk, we’ll see what happens with Fury. If we don’t fight those guys [Dubois, Usyk, or Fury], we’ll fight, and then maybe we’ll follow one of those guys next year,” Hearn said. 

When pressed whether Dillian Whyte and Jared Anderson are in consideration, Hearn added, “Two guys that have been discussed, but nothing concrete.” In the meantime, a new development seems to hint at who Joshua’s next opponent is!

Former rival of Anthony Joshua withdraws from fight for a big opportunity

Dillian Whyte, a former rival of Anthony Joshua, has withdrawn from his scheduled bout on the Fabio Wardley vs Justis Huni card this weekend at Ipswich Town’s Portman Road, live on DAZN. The British heavyweight was set to make his return but has stepped away in pursuit of a bigger opportunity.

Promoter Frank Warren explained, “He’s not going to be on the card now because he has had the opportunity of a big fight in August. We are looking at the moment to get that over the line. It is a big fight for him… He wants a bigger fight than he would have got at Ipswich.” Whyte had previously pulled out of a planned clash with Joe Joyce in April due to a hand injury. 

While this doesn’t necessarily mean Whyte will fight Joshua next, the timing seems very convenient. 

That being said, it appears Anthony Joshua has a two-fight plan to recover from his shock loss to Daniel Dubois. However, it’s yet to be seen who he ends up fighting. Who do you think it will be?