Joshua tipped for summer return

Former two-time unified heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua has been tipped to make his ring return in the summer following his shock knockout defeat to IBF heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois last September, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.

Speaking to BetFred, Matchroom CEO Frank Smith confirmed Joshua’s timeline while discussing the current state of the heavyweight division.

“There’s a lot of movement in the heavyweight division. You’ve got Daniel Dubois vs Joseph Parker on February 22nd, we’ve got to wait and see what Oleksandr Usyk does next. But I think you’ll see Anthony Joshua back out in the summer,” Smith said.

A rematch with Dubois was initially planned for February, but the British-Nigerian was advised by his team to recover from niggling injuries.

Meanwhile, British heavyweight Dillian Whyte has thrown his hat in the ring as a potential opponent, vowing to send Joshua into retirement if they meet for a third time.

“If he wants to fight, then all they’ve got to do is call me. I’m always up for fighting AJ. No problem for me. However, personally, I think he’s finished. I think he made a huge mistake not taking the immediate rematch with Dubois,” Whyte told Sky Sports Boxing.

The pair have history, with Whyte winning their amateur bout 16 years ago before Joshua claimed victory in their professional encounter in December 2015 with a seventh-round knockout.

A potential trilogy fight was scheduled for August 2023 but was cancelled after Whyte returned an adverse finding in a doping test. He was later cleared after an investigation found it was a contaminated supplement that caused the findings.

The possibility of a long-awaited clash with Tyson Fury appears remote after the WBC champion announced his fifth retirement following his second straight defeat to Oleksandr Usyk in December.

However, Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn remains skeptical about Fury’s retirement.

“I saw that coming. I think, if you ever want to come back and get the max you’ve gotta retire first, ain’t you? Someone’s gotta bring you out of retirement,” Hearn told iFL TV.

“For AJ, we have options to pursue and we are looking at them currently,” he added in a separate interview with The Daily Mail.

Joshua, who has earned over $200m in his career, will look to rebuild his reputation after suffering his fourth professional defeat to Dubois at Wembley Stadium.