ANTHONY JOSHUA is ready to take the heavyweight division by storm after finally giving his beaten up body a break.
AJ – who only started boxing aged 18 before winning Olympic gold just four years later – looks set for over a year out of the ring.
Daniel Dubois knocked out Anthony Joshua in September[/caption]
He was knocked out by Daniel Dubois in September but snubbed a rematch to instead undergo surgery on his elbow.
An extended holiday in the Middle East and Africa then followed for Joshua – who let his body heal properly for the first time in his career.
But speaking at the unveiling of Matchroom Boxing’s rebranding – the two-time heavyweight champion is plotting an explosive comeback.
He said: “I took a year out, first time in about 12 to 13 years as a professional, not even including the amateur stuff.
“But I took a year out, get my body right. I’m at a different stage in my career where I can look at time a bit differently.
“I’m all these years in front of me like the main man here, so I gotta make like really executive decisions about what I do next.
“So the minute I come back, you know I’ll come back with a bang rather than just keep rolling through and just going with the motions of the sport.
“I just thought, let me take some time out so when I do come back I come back fully active and ready to go and take the division by storm again.”
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Joshua saw a blockbuster Battle of Britain bout with Tyson Fury go up in smoke after the Gypsy King announced his retirement in January.
That came after two losses to Oleksandr Usyk, 38, in 2024 with Fury, 36, so far sticking to his word despite a repeated history in returning.
So Joshua’s next best option is Deontay Wilder – who bounced back from two losses to beat Tyrrell Herndon in his comeback fight in June.
AJ’s promoter Eddie Hearn has already been in talks with Wilder’s manager Shelly Finkel over a shock bout with Dave Allen.
And with Joshua eyeing a return before the year closes – Hearn confirmed they would go straight into a mega-fight with Wilder.
He added: “I think it’s a great fight. I mean there’s jeopardy in it, it’s dangerous. Originally I was speaking to Shelly about Dave Allen.
“I kind of get the feeling that Wilder wants to get a few fights under the belt, get a bit of confidence back.
“I think it’s great to see him returning, it’s really important that Deontay is still in the heavyweight division.
“AJ I will be here tonight. We’ve just started pinging a few opponents backwards and forwards, nothing really to talk about, but you will see AJ in the ring, November or December.”
Joshua, 35, and Wilder, 39, were once close to agreeing a huge undisputed title decider before rival broadcasters and promoters got in the way.
Saudi boxing supremo Turki Alalshikh then tried to revive the bout last year.
But after Wilder was beaten by Joseph Parker on points and knocked out by Zhilei Zhang – once again the clash was KO’d.
Wilder is now plotting another confidence-building tune-up bout – with Hearn hoping the fight with Joshua can be revived once more.
He said: “That’s the kind of fight you announce and it just gets bigger and bigger and bigger because there’s huge jeopardy in it, two massive punchers, both guys have defeats on their resume recently and yeah, important that they keep on winning.”
Joshua still remains linked to a Deontay Wilder fight[/caption]
