- Eddie Hearn has laid out a timeline for Anthony Joshua’s return to competition
- Joshua was stopped in the fifth round of his clash against Daniel Dubois
Anthony Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn has revealed when fans can expect to see the Brit back in the ring and it has implications for a potential rematch with Daniel Dubois.
After racking up four consecutive victories, Joshua entered the clash with Dubois in September as an overwhelming betting favourite.
The 35-year-old had the chance to join an elite group of fighters to have held the heavyweight title on three separate occasions with the bout staged in front of a reported record crowd of 96,000 fans at Wembley.
However, it proved to be a disastrous night for Joshua, who was dropped several times before being stopped for the second time in his professional career.
It was expected that an immediate rematch would take place with Turki Alalshikh has revealing the proposed date was February 22, 2025.
Eddie Hearn (R) has revealed when fans can expect to see Anthony Joshua (L) back in the ring
Joshua (L) was stopped in the fifth round of his clash against Daniel Dubois (R) in September
However, reports have claimed that is now off the cards with Joshua still suffering from minor injuries.
Taking to Instagram, Hearn revealed: ‘he had 5 fights in 18 months, he will be fine. Back in the summer.’
Dubois’ promoter Frank Warren has made it clear that that will be too long for his fighter to wait.
Speaking last week he said: ‘I don’t see [the Joshua rematch] happening next,’ Warren told BoxNation. ‘We’re looking at a couple of things at the moment and we’ll make a decision.
‘I was hoping we’d get it done fairly quickly, but we won’t. I was hoping to get it done last week and then this week. Sometime next week we’ll be in the position where we can close on something. We’re talking to a few other guys.
‘I’m hearing that he’s injured. Whatever it is, if things are going to happen, they happen. It’s taken a while to feel like it won’t happen, and unless I get a phone call saying it’s on, then we’ve got to make some decisions.
Eddie Hearn took to Instagram to reveal when he expects Joshua to make his in-ring return
‘We’re in the Daniel Dubois business. He’s the champion. He’s the guy who matters to me. [February 22] is when I want to get him out, and he wants to be out.’
The IBF have also confirmed that Dubois can make an optional defence of his title against any of their ranked opponents before April 22.
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