EDDIE HEARN has revealed that Anthony Joshua plans to return to action in the spring, before a blockbuster summer bout with Tyson Fury.
Joshua, 36, defeated Jake Paul via sixth round knockout in Miami.
JAKE PAUL VS ANTHONY JOSHUA LIVE: FOLLOW ALL THE REACTION FROM MIAMI
After the fight, attention quickly turned to what two-time former heavyweight champion of the world Joshua will do next.
Having taken 15 months off following his defeat to Daniel Dubois last year, Joshua plans to be far more active in the near future.
When asked by SunSport about rumours of a February 14 bout with Dutch kickboxing star Rico Verhoeven, Hearn did not dismiss the possibility.
The Matchroom chief, 46, said: “We’ve been talking about a possible fight with Turki Alalshikh.
“A couple of opponents mentioned. The biggest challenge now, as AJ said, is it’s eight weeks tonight.
“He had a very tough camp, eight or nine weeks with a new team, who have given him a good working over.
“So we will sit down with that team and talk about when he will be ready to return.
“In an ideal world, that would be the time. But we’re going to see when he’s ready.
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“Rico, or whoever it is – we haven’t finalised that yet. But the date really is what we’re going to work on over the next four, five, six days – because we’re not going to rush him back if he’s not quite ready.
“But it won’t be long. The plan is to fight in the spring, and the obviously fight Tyson Fury.”
Jake Paul vs Anthony Joshua – latest reaction
Jake Paul down four times before Anthony Joshua wins
Anthony Joshua beat Jake Paul in a Netflix superfight in Miami – but viewing fans were not impressed with what they saw.
The two-time heavyweight champion was expected to steamroll the former YouTuber but it took him SIX rounds to get rid of the game American.
Paul was down four times in the fight but fans, commentators and even the referee criticised the pair for a lack of action and punches thrown.
Joshua called out Tyson Fury after the fight while Paul revealed he had suffered a gruesome broken jaw.
JAKE PAUL VS ANTHONY JOSHUA – ALL THE LIVE REACTION
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Joshua also called out Fury in the ring.
The Watford puncher told Ariel Helwani moments after his victory: “We shook off the cobwebs and I can’t wait to roll into 2026.
“And if Tyson Fury‘s as serious as he thinks he is, and he wants to put down his Twitter fingers and put on some gloves and come and fight one of the realest fighters out there that will take on any challenge, step into the ring with me next.
“If you’re a real bad man, don’t do all that talking, ‘AJ this, AJ that,’ let’s see you in the ring and talk with your fists.”
Later asked if he considered his night’s work against Paul a success, Joshua said: “No. I needed to do better. No, it’s a win, but it’s not a success. I think my coach expects more from me, and I expect more for myself.
“But what can we do? We can’t reverse the clock. I have to move forward. I have to put that in the past now.
“After today, you may see a bit of social media trying to lap up all of the algorithm attention, but for me, it’s in the past
“I can’t live off of that win. I’ve got a lot of improvement that I need to do, so yeah, I’m not happy.”
Quizzed if he would be willing to go straight into a fight with Fury, AJ was unequivocal.
“Yeah. I would,” he vowed.
