Anthony Joshua set for huge 2026 ring return, Eddie Hearn reveals

Anthony Joshua vs Tyson Fury is still on the cards

Anthony Joshua (28-4, 25 KOs) is preparing to make his ring return following the shocking defeat to Daniel Dubois (22-3, 21 KOs) in 2024. 

Heading into the fight, AJ looked back to his best, with ruthless stoppage victories over Francis Ngannou and Otto Wallin.

However, it wasn’t enough, Joshua, who has had trouble recovering from big shots in the past, found himself on the canvas in the opening round, and was unable to recuperate - with Dubois finally finding the finishing touch in the fifth. 

Joshua and his team have long said he would make a return, but details of his comeback have remained under wraps; however, promoter Eddie Hearn recently revealed to Sky Sports that preparations are well underway.

"Right now, all that's in my mind in an ideal scenario is to fight Tyson Fury next year. That's the big focus.

"From a common-sense perspective, the fight has to happen in 2026, but common sense and Fury's decisions don't always gel together. He's got to want to come back,” Hearn stated

"We've got to choose carefully for the next fight, and I think the best way in all of this is just to be honest and say the next fight will be a comeback fight to build into a roll of the dice next summer

“We want that to be against Tyson Fury. If it's not, it's going to be a massive fight

"We need a top-15 guy [next]. It's not going to be Fury, Usyk, Dubois, all of those top guys. We need someone so that AJ can come back in a competitive fight after being out for what will be over a year and get himself ready for what will be one last roll of the dice.

"A defeat now at this stage of his career would be devastating to those plans. So we need to get it right."

Tyson Fury is currently retired from the sport, but the Matchroom promoter seems to think this is a temporary arrangement and that if ‘The Gypsy King’ is to come back, a matchup with AJ would be the fight to make.

"I think there's a feeling that the fight will happen, but we've been here so many times before, and if you start trying to guess what Tyson Fury's going to do next, it starts to become a very confusing game. But if he's going to come back, I just don't see what else you come back for.

"I don't think he'll go straight in for AJ. Hopefully, he can get [his comeback] fight in early 2026, and then we'll have ours, and then we'll finally get it on. But who knows?"