Anthony Joshua is still riding high off his impressive win over Francis Ngannou and now Eddie Hearn has mapped out his future contests.
Joshua’s last bout in early March capped a successful year for the Brit. He fought four times in just under 12 months with a points win over Jermaine Franklin, and three straight knockouts of Robert Helenius, Otto Wallin and Ngannou.
Those wins have got AJ back to form and back to his explosive best after two years in 2021 and 2022 saw him dethroned and failing to win back his world titles in back to back 12 round points losses to Oleksandr Usyk.
It is now expected that he will get to fight the winner of the undisputed fight on May 18 between Usyk and Tyson Fury, with much of the boxing world hoping that Fury comes through so there will be an all-British showdown that has been a long-time in the making.
Speaking on Matchroom’s YouTube channel, Hearn has now shed more light on ‘AJ’s future.
“Most fighters will finish a fifth and get back in the gym on the Sunday or Monday, then the adrenaline calms down and we have to take into consideration that he has boxed four times in 11 months.
“That’s four camps, 10 weeks a camp, that’s 40 weeks in less than 52, that’s not a lot of time off, but he feels great. The confidence is there. But I will sit down with [his manager] Freddie Cunningham, AJ and 258 management and we will see what we’re going to do.
“No decisions will be made before the Fury fight because I’m confident if Fury wins that His Excellency will do whatever he can regardless of the two-fight deal do to make the biggest fight in the history of the sport and that Anthony Joshua versus Tyson Fury, but there’s Filip Hrgovic there for the IBF title. Really he has lots of options.”
In the meantime, Joshua can take a well-earned rest and see how the four-belt battle plays out in Saudi Arabia.