Anthony Joshua will be back soon, honest!
It’s looking increasingly likely that he will fight by the end of this year, and a late December date in Ghana is under serious consideration.
However, there are a lot of reasons why a fight in Accra may not happen, and there are equally a lot of reasons why a fight before the end of the year makes sense. This would be the only year in the 12 years that Joshua has been a professional that he has not fought. He needs a fight: it is that simple.
The talk once again is of a showdown with Tyson Fury: a fight first seriously talked about in June 2020, when Fury announced it had been agreed. Fury, however, has talked about a third and final fight with Oleksandr Usyk, who last week claimed he would fight again in 2026. The very top of the heavyweight division is currently in hibernation; the big bears have gone to their lairs with their secret demands, prejudices and fears.
Fury, Usyk and Joshua have all reached their peak during close to a decade of great fights, and right now, each of their final matches needs to be calculated with care: there is a lot at stake, and they all know that. There are men waiting for a golden opportunity, but the trio know that the riches are contained inside their triangle of conflict, their cosy little war.
“The problem is that there is no way Anthony Joshua can have a low-key fight anywhere in the world,” said Eddie Hearn with a smile and a shrug. “I know what he wants to do: he just wants to get out and fight.” Joshua last fought in September 2024, when he was stopped at Wembley Stadium, in front of nearly 95,000 people, by Daniel Dubois.
If Joshua does fight in December in Accra – or in California, which has also been mentioned – he will not, as Hearn hinted, be the main attraction; he will be a lively sideshow, and that will help him ease back. It is increasingly difficult for main event boxers to return from losses, especially crushing defeats, in low-key fights. The modern pattern is to return in a big rematch, but that is not currently an option. The other route is topping the bill in a main event of significance. Joshua, it appears, does not want the added and unnecessary pressure right now.
In 1991, less than five months after Nigel Benn had lost to Chris Eubank in their first fight – which shaped the future of British boxing – in Birmingham in November 1990, Benn was back in action on a Wednesday night at York Hall. Benn beat Robbie Sims in seven rounds, and there was a Marvin Hagler connection – Sims was his half-brother. It was the fight that Benn needed, a return away from the spotlight and the pressure. Joshua would, it seems, like something similar.
Joshua has been the absolute main attraction in massive fights since beating Dillian Whyte for the British title at the O2 in 2015; it was not his first main event, but it was the first of the big ones, the nights that left an impression. He has fought outside in front of 65,000 people on six occasions during 10 extraordinary years of dominance at the box office. There is, let’s be absolutely clear, nobody in British boxing history that can come close to matching Joshua’s numbers.
Joshua was in Accra in June this year, ringside at a fight, and he met with Ghana’s boxing king, Azumah Nelson. Nelson is Africa’s greatest fighter. It was a historic meeting, especially for a boxing scholar like Joshua. There was a lot of talk at the time, with renewed chat about Joshua’s desire to fight in Africa. He has talked openly about a fight in Nigeria, where his parents are from, for a long time.
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Joshua knows his Rumble in the Jungle and has talked about wanting something similar. A fight as part of an undercard in December would not quite be the second coming of George Foreman and Muhammad Ali on that monumental African dawn back in 1974, but it would be a lot of fun. Also, it is worth mentioning that the Rumble took place about 2,100 miles away from Accra.
The fight might be announced soon, or it might just vanish, which would be a shame. Joshua fighting in Accra in late December, with Nelson ringside and a global audience fascinated by the distant echoes of the Rumble, would end the year in style. It would also be invaluable preparation for a swansong fight or two next year. In short, he would have the edge over Fury, who has not fought since last December. It would be a calculated move, and a smart one, but it would not be anonymous.
