Former two-time heavyweight world champion, Anthony Joshua, is closing in on a two-fight comeback deal with talks ongoing for a potential return later this year.

Joshua, 35, has been sidelined since suffering a knockout defeat to Dubois at Wembley last September. A subsequent elbow injury forced him into surgery in May, delaying his return to the ring.

Anthony Joshua promoter Eddie Hearn confirmed that discussions are underway with Saudi boxing chief Turki Alalshikh over a deal tied to the Riyadh Season series of major boxing events.

“We are actually discussing a two-fight deal with Riyadh Season,” Hearn told BoxingScene. “We want to box sometime this year, October, November, and December.”

While fans had hoped for blockbuster showdowns with either Dubois or Fury, those matchups appear off the table for now.

Dubois is set to face Oleksandr Usyk in a rematch on July 19 at Wembley, while Fury announced a shock retirement in January after back-to-back losses to Usyk in 2024.

Hearn hinted that future matchups remain a possibility:

“We’ll see what happens with Dubois-Usyk; we’ll see what happens with Fury. If we don’t fight those guys, we’ll fight, and maybe follow one of those guys next year.”

Two names emerging as potential opponents for Joshua’s return are Dillian Whyte and rising American Jared Anderson.

Joshua previously defeated Whyte via knockout in 2015. A rematch was scheduled for August 2023, but Whyte was pulled after testing positive in a pre-fight drug test, later blamed on a tainted supplement.

He has since returned to action with wins in Ireland and Gibraltar and is due back in the ring this weekend on Fabio Wardley’s undercard in Ipswich, though his opponent remains unknown. (BusinessDay)