Eddie Hearn has claimed Anthony Joshua will likely retire in 2026.
Eddie Hearn has recently made the bold claim that Anthony Joshua will likely retire in 2026.
This comes after Joshua has been set back from a summer return due to ongoing injuries. Joshua was brutally knocked out by Daniel Dubois in his most recent outing.
Joshua now has four losses on his record, and it remains to be seen what he has left to give in the sport.
Eddie Hearn names Tyson Fury as the final fight he wants for Anthony Joshua next year
In an interview with IFL TV, Hearn summarized his plans for Joshua:
“In an ideal world, we’d like to fight in November/December and then have two Tyson Fury fights in 2026.”
When asked about potential opponents for the fight at the end of the year, Hearn said:
“It was gonna be Dillian Whyte, probably, but looks like he’s fighting Moses. Jared Anderson, Deontay Wilder, I don’t know.”
Whyte is facing Itauma on August 16th.
Wilder is set to return after one win in his last five fights, whilst Anderson has had one fight since losing to Martin Bakole.
The interviewer suggests Zhilei Zhang as another option, to which Hearn responds: “It’s not a fight we’ve thought about, he just got beat, but don’t see a problem with that fight, great fight.”
Zhang was stopped by Kabayel last time out, marking his first stoppage loss.
Anthony Joshua was supposed to face Deontay Wilder in 2023
In 2023, Joshua and Wilder topped a double-header which aimed to pit the two together for a mega-fight months later.
Joshua faced Otto Wallin in his fight, and fulfilled his side of the bargain as he stopped Wallin in five rounds.
Wilder, meanwhile, was unable to win his fight against Joseph Parker, and lost almost every round in a shutout performance for the Kiwi star.
It seems now that Joshua has suffered another loss the bout may finally happen, but perhaps a few years too late.