Revealed: Anthony Joshua’s damage return timeline as Eddie Hearn reveals the heavyweight is unable to enter camp as a result of ‘setback’
- Joshua hasn’t fought since being knocked out by Daniel Dubois in September
- He has been linked with a rematch as well as taking on fellow Brit Tyson Fury
- The heavyweight won’t be returning to the ring soon, though, due to injury
Anthony Joshua‘s estimated return date has been detailed after Eddie Hearn revealed the heavyweight has been suffering from a ‘setback’.
The Brit has been out of action since he lost against Daniel Dubois at Wembley in September 2024, with his future up in the air on the back of the devastating knockout defeat.
Fans have been curious as to what his next move is, with no announcements made despite reports he could face long-time rival Tyson Fury as soon as this year.
Now, however, it has been revealed that Joshua is dealing with an injury, as revealed by Hearn when he was asked if Joshua could face Dubois in rematch after the champion pulled out of his defence against Joseph Parker due to illness.
It was expected Dubois would have a rematch and unification bout against Oleksandr Usyk if he beat Parker, but the Ukrainian has been order to face Parker instead.
No rematch with Dubois will be happening any time soon, though, Hearn revealed, as he detailed when fans can expect Joshua to return to the ring.
The injury return timeline for Anthony Joshua has been revealed after he suffer a ‘setback’
The heavyweight suffered a devastating knockout defeat at the hands of Daniel Dubois – his last outing – in September
Hearn (right) said his client needs another eight weeks before he can return to camp
‘Not a lot [to report],’ Hearn, Joshua’s promoter, told iFL TV from Australia. ‘Look, he resumed training, and to cut a long story short, without going into too much detail about any injury. He’s not really ready to start camp.
‘He needs another eight weeks or so on his injury. He had a little bit of a setback, and he won’t be punching for about that period of time. So, really, you’re looking at kind of the end of May for camp, so you’re looking at the back end of summer to fight again. August, September.
‘When I say we’re not in any tearing rush, I mean we’d like to know what the next move is, but until he’s physically ready, we’re not in any tearing rush.
‘I mean, there’s only really two fights that he’s locked in for, and that’s Dubois and Fury. And at the moment obviously, the Fury fight doesn’t look like it’s a goer, but we can’t really start planning too much until we know he’s fully ready to resume training.
‘It was a minor setback, but he’s got to be physically right. Like I said, it’s an injury he’s had for a while, and he’s resumed training – just not ready to start camp in full until it’s 100 per cent, which it’s not.’
Frank Warren, who promotes Dubois and did promote Fury before his latest retirement, said the former is set to return to the ring in July, though it is understood that that has no relation to a potential bout with Joshua.
The heavyweight division was complicated when Dubois pulled out of his fight with Parker, which resulted in the new Zealander knocking out Martin Bakole instead and seemingly earning a shot at Usyk.
It remains unclear if that will happen, with Usyk vs Dubois 2 seeming more likely right now.
