ANTHONY JOSHUA is still on course to fight Tyson Fury next year, his promoter Eddie Hearn said.
AJ is set for a late-notice comeback bout before the end of the year while Fury is yet to come out of the retirement he announced in January.
Hearn last night met with Saudi Arabia’s boxing financier Turki Alalshikh in the capital to discuss Joshua’s next move.
And he walked away from the talks confident a deal will finally be secured for AJ to fight Fury.
Hearn said on talkSPORT: “Next year, we will fight in February, and then we will fight Tyson Fury if Turki Alalshikh delivers on his plans and strategies.
“We spoke with him in London this week. Everything that we do with Anthony Joshua will be in accordance with and under the guidance of Turki Alalshikh.
“He has given us amazing opportunities. And the game plan will be put together with him.
“It’s Turki Alalshikh’s responsibility to talk to Tyson Fury and try and make the deal. I can’t tell you we’re fighting Tyson Fury.”
Fury, 37, announced the fourth retirement of his career following double defeats to Oleksandr Usyk, 38, last year.
Joshua, 36, meanwhile is yet to return since his September 2024 knockout loss to Daniel Dubois, 28, at Wembley.
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Hearn has been teasing that the two-time heavyweight champion could fight in December unannounced against a mystery opponent.
It would pave the way for AJ to return to winning ways before facing Fury in 2026 – which Hearn claims they have agreed to.
He said: “What I can tell you is Turki Alalshikh has told us, ‘I am going to make AJ v Tyson Fury. This is your deal. Do you accept?’
“We have accepted. Is the fight made? No. Because I don’t know where he’s at with Tyson Fury. All I know is he’s yet to fail in delivering a fight.”
Hearn’s comments come after reports claimed Joshua was finalising a deal to fight YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul next month.
Paul, 28, was due to face Gervonta Davis, 30, in an exhibition on Friday.
But the troubled lightweight star was pulled out after his ex-girlfriend launched a civil suit against him alleging domestic abuse.
The Netflix event was scrapped and Paul’s camp have been searching for a late-notice replacement ever since – with Hearn putting Joshua’s name forward.
Next year, we will fight in February, and then we will fight Tyson Fury if Turki Alalshikh delivers on his plans and strategies.
Eddie Hearn
Despite rumours a deal is nearing, Hearn said: “I mean, the gun was jumped a little bit and fired early. There have been conversations.
“For us, we were flirting with the idea of having this little eight-round fight this year. Not with Jake Paul, by the way, because he was fighting Gervonta Davis.
“But we were going to go on another card somewhere. You wouldn’t have really heard of the person we were going to fight.
“But AJ wanted to go through the motions, wrap the hands, and just gear up to what is really in the works with Turki Alalshikh, which is two fights in 2026.
“And that includes Tyson Fury. That’s the plan for Turki Alalshikh. We received a phone call from Nakisa Bidarian, from MVP, who, by the way, we’ve spoke to a few months before talking to us about the fight.
“And he said, look, would you want to fight Jake Paul? And I said, listen, I don’t want to just be a publicity muppet for you, you know, telling everybody that you offered the fight to Anthony Joshua.
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“If you’re serious, we can discuss the numbers. And if there’s a chance for us to run out in December and, you know, take care of this bloke and get him out of the boxing world and make several tens of millions in the process, of course, we will consider it.
“And that’s basically where we are at now.”
