Anthony Joshua is on the way back, with the British heavyweight boxing superstar almost ready to return to training, but who will he fight next?
The 35-year-old two-time world heavyweight champion has been out of action since that devastating knockout loss vs Daniel Dubois at Wembley Stadium last September.
AJ had gone into that bout as favourite to join the select band of three-time heavyweight champions in front of a raucous crowd of almost 100,000 at London’s iconic Wembley Stadium. But ‘Dynamite’ tore up the script in incredible fashion.
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Joshua (now 28-4) was on the floor in four of the five rounds, the last time for the count as Dubois landed another brutal counter to close the show in incredible style.
It was a rude awakening for the Watford man, who had spent the previous 12 months rebuilding his reputation following back-to-back losses to the great Oleksandr Usyk.
AJ had looked particularly special in blasting out Otto Wallin and Francis Ngannou, his first fights under the tutelage of new trainer Ben Davison. But things then came horribly unstuck against Dubois.
The last few months have seen Joshua rehabbing an injury to the upper half of his body, but he is now almost ready to return to training. Promoter Eddie Hearn believes he will be ready to fight again by late summer (likely August or September).
It’s unlikely that date will be a gentle tune-up, time waits for no man in the heavyweight division and Hearn believes his man will only fight a maximum of three more times before retirement. Or maybe just one…
Potential opponents for Joshua
So who will be in the opposite corner when AJ returns? Here are our three favourite options:
Agit Kabayel (26-0)
The talented German has really ascended to the heavyweight boxing elite in the last 18 months, moving up several levels to notch a hat-trick of brilliant victories.
Kabayel has gone in with three fellow heavyweight contenders, often as an underdog, and taken them all apart to prove that he is absolutely for real.
He started by defusing the huge Russian Arslanbek Makhmudov in December 2023, before taking the giant apart in some style. He then followed up by knocking out Cuban slickster Frank Sanchez on the Fury vs Usyk card in May 2024.
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If we weren’t believers after that, we were a few short months later when Agit repeated the dose by putting Chinese ‘Big Bang’ Zhilei Zhang to sleep in February 2025 with another terrific performance.
Kabayel is a really smart fighter, one who is really adept at employing a gameplan and sticking to it, even if it means weathering an early storm. His ability to then switch attacks between body and head mean he’s also very good at gradually dismantling an opponent.
Agit is currently the WBC interim world champion and Joshua is ranked #2, and this would be a fascinating clash of styles. It’s also a fight that AJ has talked about in the past, one he expects to happen at some stage. Bring it on…
Moses Itauma (11-0)
This might be the fight that has least upside for Joshua – there are few big men out there who want a piece of the incredible 20-year-old talent from Chatham, Kent. Itauma quite simply is that good.
Seen by many as the future of the heavyweight division, ‘Enriko’ has blasted out nine of his 11 opponents so far inside two rounds. And the manner of those wins have been absolutely spectacular.
Frank Warren’s exciting young charge has remarkable ring savvy for one so young, allied to unbelievable speed and power. It’s a potent mix which has left his opponents tasting the ring canvas for the most part.
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Itauma’s most recent victim was tough Aussie Demsey McKean, who was obliterated inside a round on the Usyk vs Fury 2 undercard in Riyadh last December. It was a quite sensational demolition job by Moses.
Joshua vs Itauma is a fight which would absolutely capture the imagination of the British public. Two massive punchers, the established great vs the prodigious young contender. And it would be absolute blockbusting TV box office.
With Hearn’s Matchroom and Warren’s Queensberry both now under the DAZN TV banner and important players in Riyadh Season, there appear to be few barriers to this one happening. If they both want it.
Itauma fights again on May 24 in Glasgow, so assuming he comes through that a massive fight awaits later in 2025. It could even be for a world heavyweight title.
Tyson Fury (34-2-1)
You didn’t think we’d write a piece about Joshua opponents without going there, did you?
Even now, five years on from when this fight was actually agreed, this one still makes financial sense. Even when you throw in the fact both men are without a world heavyweight title and both are coming off losses.
Like Mayweather vs Pacquaio on a global level, this all-British blockbuster just feels like it has to happen to neatly close off a fascinating period of domestic boxing history.
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The one big fly in the ointment here of course is that Fury (34-2-1) is currently happily retired, hanging up his gloves after the second of back-to-back losses to Oleksandr Usyk in December 2024. But will he stay retired? That remains the biggest question mark in the heavyweight division.
Hearn re-iterated recently that this would be Joshua’s number one choice if Fury does return to the ring, and reports suggest both men still might earn north of £100m for going through with it. All these years later, the agonising wait goes on.
