The former heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua‘s career is going through a resurgence of sorts. Two back-to-back losses against two-division undisputed champion Oleksandr Usyk meant that he was pushed down the pecking order in the heavyweight division, with the hopes of becoming a world champion looking ever so distant. Fast forward two years from 2022, following his second loss to Usyk, Anthony Joshua looks rejuvenated and hungry, having had four spectacular wins in four fights.

Anyways, before he moves to camp for training for his 5th win, Joshua is making sure he is finding time to enjoy himself. He is a big fan of Grime and UK Hiphop. And there was no way he was going to miss the iconic British garage group So Solid Crew in action at the Kool Kids Fest in London. The group while performing decided to invite onto the stage the former unified heavyweight champion to recite a few verses.

The crowd went wild as the 34-year-old former heavyweight champion was introduced to the stage by the lead singer of the hip-hop group Lisa Maffia. AJ joined group members Lisa Maffia and Romeo on stage and rapped and danced along to the raging hit song of the 2000s “21 Seconds”.

His MC skills were on point as he didn’t miss a beat or fluff his lyrics. After the electrifying performance by the old-school hip-hop group, Joshua and the crew went go-karting. AJ was in the driver’s seat with Lisa sitting on the passenger side as he was trying to dodge his way out of bumps from fellow drivers.

This wasn’t the first time the former heavyweight champion has grooved with the So Solid Crew, as he performed the rap of ‘21 Seconds’ back in 2020 at the Garage Nation festival as well. He has also previously shown his passion for home-grown music in the UK by rapping along to Skepta and JME’s record “That’s Not Me” at an event in Dubai four years ago. This time too, Anthony Joshua shocked the crowd with his impressive rapping skills.

Way Ahead for Anthony Joshua

Since his return in 2023, Joshua has already changed his trainer twice. Starting with Derrick James, under whose stewardship he won the fights against Jermaine Franklin and Robert Helenius, he then found his perfect match in compatriot Ben Davison who led him to two early-round stoppage victories against Otto Wallin and Francis Ngannou.

Now, the road is clear again for Anthony Joshua to become a world champion for the third time. Due to Usyk relinquishing his IBF belt, and it being passed down to his mandatory challenger Daniel Dubois, Joshua will have a chance to fight for the title on September 21, 2024, in Wembley Stadium.

The all-British showdown promises an exciting watch for the boxing fans. Joshua even showed some feistiness and his violent streak in a recent press interview where he threatened to throw a chair at Dubois’ face. “I’ll throw this f***ing chair across your face. Don’t disrespect me,” Joshua said, responding to Dubois who was eager for a fight during the interview itself.

A photograph of Anthony Joshua and two-time English heavyweight titleholder John McDermott has gained considerable traction since it came. Fans and followers have been joining in droves to share their thoughts and views. Interestingly, a common theme clouded the overall tone of the comments. Most of the users had something or another to say about the first fight between McDermott and Tyson Fury.

Given the fact that British boxing is keenly looking forward to an all-English clash between ‘AJ’ and ‘The Gypsy King’ hopefully by next year, the snapshot seems to have gained more resonance with followers. Many expect Joshua to be back in the ring by September. He may face either Daniel Dubois, Zhilei Zhang, or, who knows, even Joseph Parker. McDermott, on the other hand, never went back to boxing after he won the vacant English heavyweight title for the second time in 2013.

Michael Benson’s tweet read, “Anthony Joshua with Tyson Fury’s former foe John McDermott today.” The post features a screen grab of ‘AJ’s Instagram story. It displayed both the former unified heavyweight champion and ‘Bad Bad John’, as McDermott was known in the ring, standing together with their hands raised. At the bottom-right of the photo, a business message appears.

On Tuesday, June 25, it will be the fourteenth anniversary of the rematch between John McDermott and Tyson Fury. ‘The Gypsy King’ won the bout via technical knockout in the 9th round. However, it is their first square-off, which took place nearly a year before the rematch, that still sparks a heated debate among fans.

On September 11, 2009, at Essex’s Brentwood Center, ‘Big Bad John’ entered the ring opposite Tyson Fury. They clashed for the latter’s English heavyweight title. Fury continued his unbeaten track and won the match with a six-point difference, 98-92. However, the way the referee, who was also the match’s lone judge, scored came under heavy criticism.

Noted boxing writer James Slater wrote at the time. “…first the quite disgusting scoring of O’Connor must be addressed. How on earth he had Fury winning by a whopping SIX points in what everyone else saw as a close fight that the more experienced McDermott deserved to win is beyond me…..For what it’s worth, I had McDermott winning by three points,” said Slater.

Injustice revisited

Though it’s been over a decade, the view doesn’t seem to have changed for many boxing diehards. Let’s check out what some of them had to say about the ‘AJ’-McDermott photo and, of course, the Fury fight.

Pointing at ‘Big Bad John’, this user called him the man who inflicted the first professional loss on Tyson Fury.

Then, sharing a similar opinion, the next user highlighted how many fans felt that John McDermott was the real winner when he clashed with ‘The Gypsy King’. The user nevertheless expressed satisfaction at finding the former heavyweight enjoying life in general.

Continuing with the prevailing opinion, the next fan went back in time, traveling to the first Tyson Fury-John McDermott fight. According to the fan, it was a victory unfairly stolen away from ‘Big Bad John’.

The skeptics ensured to keep the comment box roaring. Take, for instance, this follower. They seemingly took a dig, claiming that it won’t shock them at all if Anthony Joshua squares up against John McDermott.

Then a Tyson Fury fan also joined the party. According to them, ‘Big Bad John’ and ‘AJ’ might be the only two people who go around claiming they could beat Tyson Fury. But the reality is that neither of them could pull it off in the past, nor would they ever be able to do it in the future.

After losing the rematch to Tyson Fury, John McDermott continued for the next three years. On March 15, 2013, he once again became the English heavyweight champion. However, he never went for a title defense thereafter.

After that second-round KO win over Francis Ngannou, fans are eagerly looking forward to ‘AJ’s next move. According to Eddie Hearn, the former heavyweight champion might headline the September 21 Riyadh Season card at Wembley Stadium. As of now, Daniel Dubois appears as the frontrunner on the list of potential opponents. A win over Dubois will make Joshua the title holder for the third time. Additionally, he could be the first to challenge the winner of Tyson Fury-Oleksandr Usyk II.

Watford native Anthony Joshua has experienced his fair share of ups and downs in his boxing career over the past few years. However, the former world champion bounces back to face new challenges again. He has been performing exceptionally and has won his last four bouts. As he was gearing up for his next fight, disappointing news came up, which might dishearten his fans.

Matchroom Boxing boss and AJ’s promoter Eddie Hearn is still getting over his loss to fellow promoter Frank Warren. However, he didn’t forget his role as a promoter as he was recently answering questions about how he plans to orchestrate a fight for AJ.

Eddie Hearn has 3 potential opponents for Anthony Joshua

The recent 5 vs 5 battle between Matchroom Boxing and Queensberry has cleared a lot of air about the matchups in the heavyweight division. A lot of things have become clear for AJ. The Brit was rumored to fight Deontay Wilder first. However, with Wilder’s recent loss to Zhilei Zhang, that prospect seems out of the question.

Of late, the heavyweight division of boxing has drawn a lot of interest from fans because of the world-class fights that happened in the recent past. Fans are a little down, though, since they were hoping to see their favorite fighter step inside the squared circle soon but there has been no word on when AJ will fight next. The Matchroom Boxing boss stated that as of now, there is nothing confirmed for Joshua in September. He further added, “Who the opponent will be is undecided. You’ve got Zhilei Zhang which is a great fight. He’s a WBO interim world champion. You’ve got Daniel Dubois, now the IBF interim heavyweight champion. Another great fight, especially for British boxing. You’ve got Joseph Parker who is on a great run.”

His promoter has given a few hints regarding the boxer’s next opponent. With some great options for the boxer, it is still undecided who he will fight next. British fans have been long anticipating an all-British fight though. Luckily, Greenwich, UK native Daniel Dubois has become the interim IBF heavyweight champion, and there is a high chance that he might face AJ in September. But the athlete doesn’t feel good when he is not inside the ring.

AJ feels a break is no good 

The 34-year-old boxer is gearing up for his next bout, which is slated to take place at the Wembley Stadium in September. However, he wanted to appear on the Matchroom vs Queensberry card, as he feels a rest does no good. AJ was last seen inside the ring in March when he defeated former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou. Boxing fans are eager to see him back in action again.

While talking to BOXINGSCENE, he explained, “A rest ain’t good. Get out, get active. We’re young, we keep firing away. But, unfortunately, I didn’t get this opportunity. They’re talking about September 21 [for my next fight], so in the back of my mind I’m getting ready.”

Joshua’s fans are well aware that he is always training irrespective of whether there’s a fight scheduled or not. His Instagram is full of posts where he is either seen practicing or working out, sometimes even cutting a tree with an axe for that matter.

The boxer can give his fans a few more great fights as he might hang his gloves in a few years. All three opponents will make a great match-up with Anthony Joshua. Only time will tell who he fights next.

Former unified heavyweight champion of the world Anthony Joshua has been working extremely hard to get himself another title shot. For him, getting sweet revenge against Oleksandr Usyk would be an ideal scenario but it realy doesn’t matter who is holding the belts by the time he gets that new chance. Currently, he is one of the top contenders who will get his chance to compete for the IBF title. Supposedly, Joshua was going to fight against the winner of the Filip Hrgovic vs Daniel Dubois winner at Wembley Stadium in September. But recent developments might prevent him from doing so, regardless of what the IBF wants to do. As you may already know, they wanted to strip Oleksandr Usyk from his belt but the Ukrainian champion appealed this decision.

The reason Oleksandr Usyk might win this appeal of very simple, he just fought recently and his contract has a rematch clause that Tyson Fury just activated last week. As soon as both fighters recover from their own match, they will step back inside the ring. Usyk simply can’t afford gettingstripped of any belt because the whole point of making this fight happen was if it is for all the belts. Although they are still waiting for a decision to be made, all signs point towards Oleksandr Usyk getting more time to recover and properly defend all the belts in a rematch against Tyson Fury. That also means Anthony Joshua will have to wait a few months before he get a crack at all the belts himself.

But AJ can’t stay inactive during this time, he will get a different fight if he doesn’t get a chance to win belts again. The person with this plan to make AJ fight for the IBF belt is Turki Alalshikh, who had been talking about his plans to make this happen for months. Presumably, he is the one who has been pushing for Uayk to get his IBF belt stripped off. Joshua will still likely fight the winner of next weekend’s fight between Dubois and Hrgovic but no belts would be involved if the IBF fufills Oleksandr Usyk’s appeal. Still, Joshua against any of those two will be a tremendous fight.

Anthony Joshua has six possible options for his next fight following Oleksandr Usyk’s victory over Tyson Fury in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Saturday night. That’s according to his promoter Eddie Hearn, who accompanied the Londoner to the undisputed world heavyweight championship bout at Kingdom Arena.

The 34-year-old may not have picked his opponent yet, but he does have a date and a venue for his next bout. Barring a considerable change in plans, Joshua will headline a card at Wembley Stadium on the 21st of September. The event will mark the first show held on UK soil by Saudi Arabian boxing chief Turki Alalshikh and Hearn spoke to the Matchroom Boxing YouTube channel about the contenders to share the ring with his fighter on that night.

On the possibility of a meeting between Joshua and Fury, Hearn reasoned: “If Usyk’s injured, can’t make the date, do you make Fury versus Joshua, with the winner fighting Usyk? The answer for me is yes please.”

Hearn’s comments reflect Joshua’s confidence in his ability, suggesting that he genuinely believes he can beat any of the world’s top heavyweights. Below is a look at each of the contenders, ranked by the likelihood of them facing ‘AJ’ next.

6. Tyson Fury

Record: 34-1-1

The prospect of Fury and Joshua trading blows has been something of a holy grail ideal for a long while and ‘The Gypsy King’ finally losing his undefeated record may mean it is closer to becoming a reality. A meeting of this pair would serve as a sizable opportunity to restore any wounded pride that Fury may have after his recent defeat. Even so, the already pencilled-in October rematch with Usyk seems like a more likely next move for the Morecambe man.

5. Oleksandr Usyk

Record: 22-0

Given that Joshua has already lost two successive clashes with the new undisputed heavyweight king, a third and final shot at the Ukrainian four-belt holder, is dripping with narrative.

However, given the mental and physical toll of being at the summit of your field, the Simferopol-born southpaw may well opt for a sabbatical if he doesn’t end up rematching Fury, rather than jumping back into the ring in four months’ time.

4. Filip Hrgovic

Record: 17-0

Hrgovic is on a streak of 17 fights unbeaten but hasn’t fought since defeating Mark De Mori in December 2023. That period of inactivity will come to an end when he faces Daniel Dubois on 1st of June in Saudi Arabia – potentially for the IBF heavyweight title if Usyk is stripped of it as expected.

Should the Croatian not bring a title to the table, then it is unlikely that he will get the call to be Joshua’s next foe.

3. Daniel Dubois

Record: 20-2

South London slugger Dubois could punch his ticket to face Joshua if he successfully defeats Hrgovic at the start of next month. The all-British clash would have Wembley buzzing, particularly if Dubois is able to bring the IBF heavyweight title into the equation.

The 26-year-old gave Usyk a scare back in August of last year and is more than capable of upsetting Joshua’s planned redemption story.

2. Joseph Parker

Record: 35-3

If Joshua is not able to challenge for the IBF belt, then it stands to reason that he will want to face the best available competition. New Zealander Parker has made no secret of his desire to once again step into the ring with Joshua, having suffered his first professional defeat to the Watford man back in 2018.

Parker even went as far as to call Joshua out in an Ed Sheeran-inspired parody video earlier this year. The 32-year-old is in some of the best form of his career, having recently picked up wins over Deontay Wilder and Zhilei Zhang and could easily upset Joshua’s future plans.

1. Deontay Wilder

Record: 43-3-1

A fight between Joshua and Wilder is one that fans have wanted to see for much of the last decade. While there is much talk of a potential title opportunity for Joshua on the Wembley show, Turki Alalshikh has been open about his desire to deliver the biggest available fights to the world.

With Fury and Usyk likely tied up with one another until the end of 2024, ‘The Bronze Bomber’ represents the biggest available name for Joshua to fight on the 21st of September. The Alabama native is another heavyweight who will be in action on the June 1st card. If he wins his main event clash with Zhilei Zhang then the door could finally be open for Joshua vs Wilder to be made.

British-Nigerian boxer Anthony Joshua has revealed that he is not afraid to die because even after death he would still “live on.”

According to him, he is made up of many past generations and he will be part of his future generations to come.

The former world champion wrote on his Snapchat page: “Don’t be afraid to die as you will always live on one way or another.

“In the sense I am Anthony Joshua but I am a make up of many past generations and I will be part of my future generations to come one I create life and pass on.

“Physiologically, I will die – but if I create life I live on.

“When they say you are so much like your granddad or your grandma, you are them and if you knew your great great grand parents it will be the same thing said.”

Eddie Hearn has revealed exactly what Anthony Joshua said to him after Oleksandr Usyk defeated Tyson Fury to become the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world.

‘AJ’ accompanied his promoter to the much-anticipated clash at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and shared his views with Hearn on which of his rivals deserved to get the decision after 12 rounds of pulsating action.

Eddie Hearn Reveals Exactly What Anthony Joshua Said to Him After Fury vs Usyk

Joshua didn’t think there was any controversy over the judges’ scorecards on the night

In a recent interview, Hearn told BoxNation “I went over to him [Joshua] after the fight and I said, “What do you think? Who’s got it?”. Joshua couldn’t have been emphatic in his response.

“I was like ‘a lot of people felt like that’. I had him winning, but narrowly.” Despite losing twice to the Ukrainian, Joshua has made no secret of the fact that he would love another crack at ‘The Cat’. That trilogy fight may have to wait, though, as Usyk is expected to meet Fury in a rematch of Saturday’s clash. A second fight between the pair was included as a part of the contract for their first bout.

Usyk was given the nod on the scorecards by the slimmest of margins. Manuel Oliver Palermo of Spain, Craig Metcalfe of Canada and Mike Fitzgerald of the United States were the men that mattered at ringside. Metcalfe gave the contest to Fury, but Palermo and Fitzgerald agreed with Joshua and sided with Usyk. As a result, the former undisputed cruiserweight champion is now the only man to hold all of the heavyweight gold in the four-era.

However, Joshua may not have to wait until Fury and Usyk have settled their differences in order to get his hands on a third world heavyweight title. The Watford-born slugger is expected to fight for the IBF heavyweight title – which Usyk is likely to be stripped of in the next few days. The Londoner is set to face the winner of the upcoming fight between Daniel Dubois and Filip Hrgovic for the vacant crown.

Dubois and Hrgovic will do battle on the 1st of June, with the victor in line to meet Joshua at Wembley Stadium in mid-September. Just a few weeks after that show, Fury and Usyk have been pencilled in for their rematch in Saudi Arabia.

Joshua may have tasted defeat at the hands of Usyk on a couple of occasions, but has reeled off four straight wins since losing to the Ukrainian for a second time in August 2022. The 34-year-old was at his clinical best when knocking out Francis Ngannou in his most recent outing. Joshua remains one of the most dangerous heavyweights on the planet and would love to avenge two of his biggest career setbacks.