‘It has to happen’ – Anthony Joshua reveals who he wants to fight in 2025

Anthony Joshua has confirmed he wants to fight British heavyweight rival Tyson Fury in 2025.

Joshua, 34, was sensationally dismantled by Daniel Dubois in front of 96,000 fans at Wembley in his last fight back in September.

Dubois went into the fight as the huge underdog but dropped AJ multiple times in a stunning and ferocious display to retain his IBF heavyweight title.

Talks were held over a second fight but Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn said his boxer was not fit enough for an immediate rematch and would therefore consider his options after a short lay-off and after watching Fury’s much-anticipated fight against Oleksandr Usyk.

Usyk won the fight on points – just as he did the first time the boxers met – leading to more uncertainly in the heavyweight division.

Dubois entered the ring after Usyk’s second win to call out the Ukrainian, though he must first defend his world title against Joseph Parker on February 22.

There were rumours Fury could walk away from the sport after suffering the second defeat of his career but the 36-year-old looks set to continue.

Following Fury’s defeat to Usyk, Hearn said a fight with Joshua was the only realistic option for The Gypsy King, who boasted an unbeaten record up until last year.

Hearn also said Joshua was keen to fight Fury next – and now the 2012 Olympic champion has spoken out on a potential fight with his fellow Brit.

‘I’ve been involved in a whole lot of fights, but this has to happen in 2025,’ he told SportsBoom. ‘Of course, it has to happen, and hopefully it does happen.’

While Joshua wants to enter the ring with Fury, he is also open to a rematch with Dubois, according to his promoter.

‘From our side we’ve got Anthony Joshua and an Anthony Joshua vs Tyson Fury fight will be a huge global event as well,’ Hearn told Al Arabiya last month.

‘For years and still to this day I keep getting asked, “when’s it going to happen?” Obviously, if Fury wins the fight on Saturday that sets up a massive fight with AJ, if he loses the fight it’s still a huge fight with AJ.

‘We’ve got the potential of a Daniel Dubois rematch as well. So I think AJ’s next fight will be Fury or Dubois.

‘I don’t see many other big fights out there for him. I think he just wants the biggest fights available to him. So the result of Saturday will be very important for Anthony Joshua as well.’

Speaking after Usyk’s impressive recent win, Hearn said Joshua was the only fight for Fury to take on the back of two successive defeats.

‘I don’t think it’s time to start screaming, this night is Usyk vs Fury, but the reality is there’s only one fight for Tyson Fury and that’s Anthony Joshua,’ Hearn told DAZN after Fury’s defeat.

‘It’s the biggest fight probably in the history of British boxing, everyone will always want to see it.

‘And by the way that wasn’t a Tyson Fury that looked finished, it wasn’t a flat performance, it wasn’t a poor performance, he didn’t look gun-shy, he didn’t look like his punch resistance was in question like we talked about earlier.

‘I think Tyson Fury is still potentially at the peak of his powers, just not good enough to be Oleksandr Usyk tonight.

‘But for me, AJ against Fury is the one, it’s the one at Wembley, I’m going to be pushing His Excellency [Turki Alalshikh] to make the fight, but that’s maybe one for another day, tonight belongs to Oleksandr Usyk.

‘But Fury will struggle with this, I think. All fighters do, AJ struggled with the Dubois defeat as well, you’re a winner and when you get beat it hurts and this will hurt Tyson Fury.’

For more stories like this, check our sport page.

Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.