Anthony Joshua news teased by Eddie Hearn after boxer rejects offer from rival promoter
Eddie Hearn has teased news around Anthony Joshua, after revealing the heavyweight recently rejected an offer from a rival promoter.
Joshua last fought in December, stopping influencer Jake Paul in six rounds, before turning his attention to a loosely-planned bout against Tyson Fury in 2026.
However, “AJ” was involved in a car crash just 10 days after beating Paul, with the incident claiming the lives of two of Joshua’s teammates. Joshua, a former two-time world heavyweight champion, was also injured in the crash in Nigeria.
The incident left his fighting future up in the air, but Joshua was quick to return to the gym, with his promoter Hearn soon hinting at a summer bout. Now, Hearn has added more fuel to the fire.
Hearn took to Instagram on Wednesday to share a photo of him accompanying Joshua during a past ring walk, adding the word “loading”.
The update came one day after Hearn suggested that Joshua, 36, had rejected an offer from a rival promoter – in the wake of Conor Benn’s defection from Hearn’s company, Matchroom.
In February, Benn shockingly left Matchroom to sign with Zuffa Boxing, a new promotion headed up by UFC president Dana White, who continues to verbally attack Hearn. Benn’s move came despite Matchroom standing by the welterweight during a two-year saga in which he could not box in Britain, after he failed two drug tests in 2022.
“He won’t mind me saying it, but AJ had an approach around the back, a couple of weeks ago,” Hearn said on The Ariel Helwani Show. on Tuesday.
“Do you know how quickly he sent me the message, the screenshot? Seconds. ‘Let me know what you wanna reply.’
And it’s like, we’re a team. ‘Til the wheels come off, we are a team, and I’ve got your back always. And that’s just how it is.”
Around the time of Joshua’s fight with Paul, he had also been linked to kickboxing icon Rico Verhoeven. However, Verhoeven has now been paired with unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk. The pair will clash in a stunning bout at the pyramids of Giza in May, with Usyk’s WBC title on the line.
Meanwhile, Fury is emerging from his fifth retirement to box Arslanbek Makhmudov on 11 April. The Briton has long been linked to compatriot Joshua, but Fury has also made clear his desire for a trilogy bout with Usyk.
The Ukrainian, who outpointed Fury twice in 2024 to hand him his only professional losses, said this week that he is open to a third bout with the “Gypsy King”.
It is unclear whom Joshua would fight next, although Agit Kabayel is arguably the odd man out among the heavyweight elite. In May, Fabio Wardley will defend the WBO belt against Daniel Dubois, while Kabayel is the mandatory challenger for Usyk’s WBC strap after the Ukrainian boxes Verhoeven.
Another interesting wrinkle came last week, when Hearn signed UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall to the new Matchroom Talent Agency. Some were quick to point out Hearn’s ongoing rivalry with UFC president White.
