Anthony Joshua’s return to the boxing ring has been delayed until September at the earliest due to a mystery injury.
The 35-year-old has not fought since his crushing defeat to Daniel Dubois at a sold-out Wembley Stadium last September, missing the chance to become a three-time heavyweight champion when he was knocked out in the fifth round.
A rematch was initially discussed for February, plans which were scrapped due to Joshua needing more time to prepare.
‘There are always niggles and he had a few so physically it’s just a case of whether AJ is ready to do that,’ his promoter Eddie Hearn said last October.
Joshua remains desperate to become a three-time world champion and has repeatedly spoken of his desire to secure a long-awaited showdown against Tyson Fury – who announced his retirement from boxing in February.
But any plans for that fight will be on hold until the second-half of the year.
Hearn would not specify the exact nature of Joshua’s injury but stressed his fighter will not be able to start training camp until April or May.
Asked about Joshua’s injury, Hearn said: ‘Top-half of his body, there you go.
‘Nothing major but it means that he’s been returning to training and it’s not quite ready to turn back to camp.
‘He needs about another eight weeks until he can punch properly, you’re looking at what, April-May till he can start camp properly so it leads us to the back end of the summer.’
In February, Hearn explained there had been no concrete discussions with Joshua over his next opponent.
‘I get that everyone wants to know about AJ’s next moves, but we haven’t had that conversation yet,’ Hearn told Metro.
‘There will be plenty of time for these types of conversations. There is no secret that he wanted the Tyson Fury fight – but now he is retired then he has to go for the world championship.’
Following back-to-back defeats to Oleksandr Usyk, Joshua embarked on a thrilling 11-month run where he racked up four wins on the bounce against Jermain Franklim, Robert Helenius, Otto Wallin and Francis Ngannou.
Defeat to Dubois however has, temporarily at least, removed him from the world title picture.
Dubois was set to defend his IBF heavyweight title against Joseph Parker in February but was forced to withdraw just days before the opening bell due to illness.
Parker has since been named the mandatory challenger for the WBO title, one of the three belts currently in Oleksandr Usyk’s possession.
But Usyk and Dubois could still meet first to crown an undisputed champion in the summer.
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While Fury has so far remained out of boxing’s spotlight since his latest retirement, Hearn is still hopeful he will reverse that decision to set up a Battle of Britain with Joshua later in the year.
‘In my deluded head, Fury comes out retirement at some point in the next few months, and they end up fighting this year,’ Hearn recently told Boxing Scene.
‘But again, no guarantee. Nothing’s led me to think that. I just think that at some point Tyson Fury is gonna sit there and go, “F**k it.”.
‘It’s the biggest fight to make and it’s not like he’s deteriorating. It’s not like he looked shot against Usyk; he just got beat by the better man.’
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