The heavyweight division in boxing has been on fire over the past few years, but 2024 was a special one for the division. Boxing fans saw incredible bouts between Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury, which ended with the Ukrainian coming out victorious. They saw Anthony Joshua‘s stunning knockout of UFC legend Francis Ngannou. And then they saw Daniel Dubois end Joshua’s quest for glory.
That latter fight, given how much momentum Joshua came into it with, was perhaps the most disruptive in the division. Joshua had a path to becoming world champion again, but Dubois stopped him in his tracks, and he did so by way of a knockout. Many fans have wondered if Joshua will call it quits, but that doesn’t seem to be the case at all. In fact, the loss to Dubois may not have even affected his future plans.
When will Anthony Joshua fight in 2025, and against who?
In an interview with BoxingScene, Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn essentially revealed that “there’s only really two fights” for Joshua in 2025. And he revealed the time frame as well.
AJ’s looking to fight in May, June time. For me, there’s only really two fights. One is the Dubois rematch, and the other one is Tyson Fury. There’s no bigger fight in boxing, commercially, than AJ-Fury. People hate me saying that. Tell me a bigger fight, commercially. It doesn’t exist. Maybe now, with everybody getting on a little bit more, we might be able to be sensible and get it made. But he also wants to rematch Dubois.
The Dubois rematch would have to wait, as the 27-year-old is set to fight Joseph Parker for the IBF heavyweight title on February 22. If he wins, he would likely get a shot at Usyk. But a loss could pave the way to the Joshua rematch.
As for Fury, Hearn doesn’t think the Gypsy King will entertain any negotiations possibly until the summer. He believes Fury needs some time off, mentally, saying that “I don’t anticipate Tyson Fury talking boxing business in the next couple of months“.