Eddie Hearn RUBBISHES Major Anthony Joshua Claim & Suggests Return Date

Eddie Hearn, chairman of Matchroom Sport and long-time promoter of Anthony Joshua, has dashed claims that the latter has signed a deal to fight Tyson Fury later in 2026.

Previously, renowned boxing report Gareth A. Davies had claimed that Anthony Joshua vs Tyson Fury was ‘going to happen’ [via TalkSPORT]. However, Hearn stated that there have been ‘no conversations’ regarding the fight since Joshua was involved in a car collision on December 29 in Nigeria.

Despite this, Hearn did not rule out the possibility of Fury/Joshua taking place later in the year, stating that there is ‘every chance’ that the fight could still happen.

What did Eddie Hearn say regarding Anthony Joshua vs Tyson Fury?

Speaking with The Stomping Ground on YouTube, Hearn said: “It’s completely untrue. Completely untrue. There is absolutely nothing signed with Anthony Joshua to fight Tyson Fury next.

“There is nothing agreed. There [have] been conversations, deep conversations as well, prior to, obviously the accident. He was going to fight Jake Paul, then he was going to fight in February or March in Saudi Arabia, then he was going to fight Tyson Fury.

“Again, nothing [was] signed and then the accident happened. Since then, there have been no conversations about that fight.

“In the last few days, we’ve had started to have conversations about revisiting the plan. I will go into camp with Joshua next week and we’ll start having conversations about what is next.

“We are more than up for [the Tyson Fury fight], but AJ needs to go back into camp and we need to understand, physically, how long it will take him to return to boxing. We are not rushing him and he isn’t rushing himself.

“It’s quite likely that return will come towards the back end of the summer. Then, after that, there is every chance that [he] could fight Tyson Fury. But, right now, there isn’t any guarantee that [Joshua] even returns to the ring. Will it get done? I think there’s a very good chance, but we’ve got to take our time.

“If everything goes well, I think you’ll see him return around July/August time and potential fight Tyson Fury around November/December. But for now, Gareth Davies is well off the mark on that one.”

Will Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury fight in 2026?

At this point, anything we could say would be mere speculation. Joshua’s current physical condition is unknown – furthermore, after being caught up in such a harrowing incident, he may not be ready to return from a mental standpoint as well.

Regardless, Anthony Joshua vs Tyson Fury is a fight that fans have been demanding for years now – and not just within the UK. Even if the fight is well beyond its sell-by date, it still has the potential to be one of the biggest fights in British boxing history.

With so much money being on the table, it is hard to envision a world in which this fight does not get made. It may not be the awe-inspiring spectacle that fans hope it will be, but we think it will probably take place at some stage.

Fights such as Mike Tyson vs Lennox Lewis and Floyd Mayweather vs Manny Pacquiao also took far too long to make, but the fans still turned up in their thousands – a similar scenario will likely transpire regarding Joshua and Fury.