The rematch against Dillian Whyte, the ‘Big Bang’ showdown, the veteran heavyweight… what’s next for Anthony Joshua if the fight against Tyson Fury doesn’t happen on December 3?

It looks like the fight between Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua is no longer happening, but ‘AJ’ still wants to get back in the ring in December.

The last few days have been chaotic in the heavyweight division.

Negotiations for a possible ‘Battle of Britain’ between Fury and Joshua appeared to be going well, with both men agreeing the fight would take place on December 3 in Cardiff with a 60/40 split in favor of the WBC champion.

However, that all fell apart after Joshua received the contracts for the fight, but Fury grew impatient with the time it was taking to sign him.

Over the weekend Fury’s frustrations boiled over and he set Joshua a deadline of 5pm on Monday to sign the contract, while ‘AJ’ insisted he did but it was currently with his lawyers.

Deadline came and went and Fury announced he would no longer be fighting Joshua and instead turned his attention to 37-year-old former WBA “regular” champion Mahmoud Charr.

As it stands, promoters on both sides insist negotiations are still making progress, but it now looks highly unlikely to happen.

So where will Joshua go next as he looks to rebuild after his second straight loss to Oleksandr Usyk in August?

talkSPORT.com takes a look at his potential alternate opponents…

Dillian Whyte

Joshua and Whyte have a long rivalry dating back to their amateur days, when ‘The Bodysnatcher’ defeated ‘AJ’ when they first met.

In 2015, after both men turned professional, Joshua exacted revenge on Whyte in a heated encounter.

The fight almost exploded at the end of the first round when the duo continued to fight after the bell and various members of their entourage burst into the ring.

Eventually the referee got everything under control and Joshua then knocked out Whyte in the seventh round of their clash at the O2 Arena.

Since then, Whyte has called for another chance to face Joshua and with Fury seemingly out of the picture he has come up with his name to fight in December.

Speaking to Sky Sports, Whyte said: “If Fury’s fight doesn’t happen with Joshua then he and I can fight in December if he wants.

“He’s training for this, he’s ready for this, he’s ready to face Fury, so if that fight doesn’t happen I’m going to step in and fight with Joshua. It would be a great fight.

With both men coming off losses, Joshua against Usyk and Whyte against Fury, this could be the perfect opportunity to bounce back to the top of the division.

Jarrell Miller

Before Joshua suffered one of the biggest upsets in boxing history against Andy Ruiz Jr in 2019, he was scheduled to fight Jarrell ‘Big Baby’ Miller.

The preparation for the fight between Joshua and Miller became extremely heated, before the American was forced to withdraw after testing positive for banned substances.

Miller then spent four years out of the ring, before returning earlier this year and he has since recorded two wins with another fight scheduled for October 2.

Should he come out of this fight unscathed, he could head straight back to camp and prepare to renew his rivalry with Joshua.

That being said, it would be difficult to convince Joshua’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, that a fight with Miller would be worth it, given that he has previously told talkSPORT: “At the end of the day, I don’t think ‘He should be allowed to fight again, but I’m not the governing bodies, I’m not the commissions.

“I like Jarrell Miller, I think he’s a nice guy, but the thing is he cheated a lot of times to try to get an unfair advantage in a fight against another athlete… And he owes me to money, honestly. And he will pay me.

Otto Wallin

As a former opponent of Fury, if Joshua beats Wallin more impressively than ‘The Gypsy King’, it could be a way to bring him back to the negotiating table for a ‘Battle of Britain’.

Or at least that’s the thought of Wallin’s promoter, Dmitry Salita.

“[Wallin] gave Tyson Fury, objectively, the toughest fight of his career, and landed more punches against him than Wladimir Klitschko and Deontay Wilder,” Salita explained.

“The American and British fans know and respect him. He’s not a talker but he really wants the fight and really believes in his chances. It’s a very tough but rewarding fight for both sides.

“That would be a pretty impressive statement if [Joshua] soon returns against a quality opponent. It would definitely show that he is serious and wants to be the best heavyweight in the world again.

Zhilei Zhang

On Usyk’s undercard against Joshua 2, Zhang – dubbed the “Big Bang” – engaged in a formidable competition with the highly rated Filip Hrgovic and he nearly won, but the judges won a unanimous decision for the Croatian.

Since then, Zhang’s manager, Tommy Lane, has made a compelling case for his man to be Joshua’s next opponent, as he told Vegas Insider: “Zhang just beat Hrgovic that many top contenders shunned. and refused.

“We know Zhang didn’t raise his hand, but Zhang won that fight. Moreover, Hrgovic was beaten and needs time to recover. Zhang returned to the hotel after the fight, Hrgovic went to the hospital.

“AJ and Zhang have the same schedule. They fought for the last time the same night. Zhang was unharmed during his fight, he is already back in the gym and will be fresh and ready to go if AJ wants him to.

“Zhang and Joshua also have history and unfinished amateur business, when they fought at the 2012 Olympics. Zhang has all of China behind him and AJ is still one of the main faces in professional boxing.

“Joshua vs. Zhang is by far the biggest fight among the other options that Eddie Hearn has publicly mentioned.”

Luis Ortiz

A big name without too much risk is the perfect way to describe a potential fight with Ortiz for Joshua.

At one point, the Cuban was a formidable force in the heavyweight division, providing Deontay Wilder’s toughest test twice.

These days, however, Ortiz is 43 and he’s been knocked out three times en route to a unanimous decision loss to Andy Ruiz Jr last time out.

Ortiz could present Joshua with the perfect opportunity to find his way back to winning ways against a credible opponent but without too much risk of suffering a third consecutive defeat.