Anthony Joshua may not fight again until March next year, according to promoter Eddie Hearn.
The two-time heavyweight champion is coming off back-to-back losses to Oleksandr Usyk, with the most recent fight taking place in August earlier this year as Joshua lost his unified WBA, WBO and IBF world titles.
After this disappointment, AJ had hoped to bounce back quickly when he returned to the ring in December and an opportunity for another world title even presented itself after being called up by Tyson Fury.
Those negotiations, however, fell apart almost as quickly as they had begun and “The Gypsy King” instead decided to face veteran heavyweight Derek Chisora on December 3.
That left Joshua somewhat out in the cold, but he still had a desire to make a comeback in December, with names such as Otto Wallin and Dillian Whyte being seen as potential opponents.
As time passed and no fights took place, it became clear that Joshua would have to delay his return to January, which quickly turned into February and now Hearn has revealed it is more likely to be March.
“When you miss an opportunity like Fury, then your mojo goes a bit, and then you come into November and you’re like, ‘I’m probably not going to fight in December,'” Hearn told IFL TV.
“Then it’s like ‘I have Christmas and I’m not going to fight in January’ and then February is here and before you know it you’re looking at March.
“[Joshua’s] stayed in the Middle East, he’s taking a vacation and then he’s going back to the camp. The plan for us is really mid/late March.
“Then you get comments like ‘why is he going to March? Just because he really wanted a few more weeks of vacation. He is always focused, always hungry.
As for Joshua’s potential opponent, his old nemesis Whyte takes on American Jermaine Franklin on November 26 and the winner of that fight is the favorite to fight ‘AJ’.
Another option is Deontay Wilder, as Hearn recently explained that there has been contact between the two sides and that we could see this fight at some point in 2023.
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