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.