Eddie Hearn’s Risky Plan To Resurrect Anthony Joshua’s Career Against A Dangerous Tune-up Opponent

Eddie Hearn says they’ve got to choose Anthony Joshua’s tune-up opponent “carefully” for early 2026 to prepare him for a big fight in the summer against the man he hopes will be Tyson Fury.

The Weighing of Risks

Hearn wants to avoid Joshua (28-4, 25 KOs) suffering an upset defeat and ruining his plans for one of the popular heavyweights. The four names that Hearn has mentioned for his warm-up fight are still risky for him, as he’ll have been out of the ring for 16 to 17 months following elbow surgery and a fifth-round knockout loss to Daniel Dubois on September 21, 2024.

Joshua’s Four Candidates

• Tony Yoka
• Efe Jagba
• Frank Sanchez
• Jared Anderson

Those are still risky fights for Joshua, who turns 36 next month on October 15. Ajagba (20-1-1, 14 KOs) would be a potential nightmare due to his power and 6’6″ size. With a cannon right hand, he could ruin Hearn’s plans for AJ.

The 2016 Olympic gold medalist Tony Yoka (14-3, 11 KOs) isn’t an easy out either. He can punch, and his 6’7″ size makes him a threat to Joshua. Although Yoka has lost several times in the last three years, those were competitive fights in which he landed a lot of heavy shots.

“We’ve got to choose carefully for the next fight, and I think the best way in all of this is just to be honest and say the next fight will be a comeback fight to build into a roll of the dice next summer,” Eddie Hearn said to Sky Sports Boxing. “We want that to be against Tyson Fury. If it’s not, it’s going to be a massive fight.”

The Safer Path Options

There are lighter punching heavyweights near the bottom of the top 15 that Joshua could fight that would give him a better chance of winning. Given that he’s coming off a long break and a bad knockout loss to Dubois, choosing one of these fighters, I believe, would be a safer choice for AJ:

1. Johnny Fisher
2. Joseph Goodall
3. Michael Hunter
4. Mahmoud Charr

“We need a top-15 guy [next]. We need someone so that AJ can come back in a competitive fight after being out for what will be over a year and get himself ready for what will be one last roll of the dice,” said Hearn.

A History of Rebuilds

For Joshua’s four-fight rebuild job in 2023 and 2024, Hearn chose four lower-level fighters whom he did well against. Although technically Otto Wallin and Jermaine Franklin were contenders, they weren’t a threat to beating him. Those types of heavyweights would be perfect for AJ to fight in early 2026 to keep him on course for a summer blockbuster.

“A defeat now at this stage of his career would be devastating to those plans. So we need to get it right,” said Hearn.

Another knockout loss would put Joshua in a position where he would need to decide whether it’s worth it to continue his career. With his power, speed, size, and pedigree, he could rebuild himself quickly if he could stay busy enough to squeeze in three or four fights in a year and a half. That’s unlikely, given his age and his increasing tendency to fight once a year.

“Joshua’s at a crossroads, but he’s got the heart to come back. Look at Holyfield at 34, coming off a knockout loss to reclaim greatness. AJ’s 36, not done yet, but the next fight will tell us a lot,” said writer Tom Gray to Sporting News, talking about Joshua’s next fight in early 2026.