Anthony Joshua Waiting On Verdict From IBF Before Deciding Opponent

Anthony Joshua will be waiting for the IBF’s verdict before deciding who he will be fighting in September.

Joshua is coming off a KO win over Francis Ngannou and is expected to return in September at Wembley Stadium. After Daniel Dubois beat Flip Hrgovic, he became the frontrunner for Joshua’s next opponent, but Hearn says Joshua is waiting to see what the IBF decides.

“Ultimately His Excellency [Turki Alalshikh] will decide who the opponent is, with myself, with ‘Josh’, with 258 [Management], but the key for ‘AJ’ is for him to become world champion again. If that’s Dubois for the IBF, that’s probably the frontrunner; if the belt’s not on the line, it might be Zhang, or it might be Parker. Those three, I think, are decent names, but no decision’s been made yet, and I don’t think it will be for another week or so,” Hearn said (via BoxingScene).

“There’s a press conference on the 26th of June, and that’s when we’ll announce, but either or any of them – we don’t really care. [What the IBF do will] be part of our decision,” Hearn added. “Yeah, there is [value in Usyk retaining their title], but also a mandatory’s due, and it’s been due for a long time. Having won that fight, Usyk ‘must’ face [interim champion] Dubois next, and he’s not going to, so it’ll likely free up [the title].”

As Eddie Hearn says, the goal for Anthony Joshua is to become world champion again. If Oleksandr Usyk does get stripped of the IBF belt, the plan is for him to fight for that belt. But, if Usyk remains the champ, that will impact who Joshua boxes next.

Anthony Joshua is 28-3 as a pro and riding a four-fight winning streak. In his career he holds notable wins over Andy Ruiz Jr., Joseph Parker, Otto Wallin, and Wladimir Klitschko.