Anthony Joshua comeback edges closer as the former heavyweight champion prepares for a summer return to training camp

Two-time heavyweight world champion Anthony Joshua is edging closer to resuming training ahead of a planned summer comeback fight, with promoter Eddie Hearn confirming that a blockbuster showdown against Tyson Fury remains on the horizon.

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Joshua, 36, last fought on 19 December 2025, defeating YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul in six rounds.

Just ten days later, the former champion survived a devastating road crash in Nigeria that claimed the lives of two of his close companions, Kevin ‘Latz’ Ayodele and recovery therapist Sina Ghami.

Despite the tragic circumstances, Joshua has returned to Finchley, his first amateur gym, and Hearn told iFL TV that a full return to training camp is imminent.

“We are very close to returning to training camp, and I feel like AJ is physically and perhaps mentally ready to throw himself back into that environment.

It is exciting,” Hearn said. “For everything that he has been through and all the pain, I do not think that will leave. But he has a career and a job to do, which he wants to continue doing.”

Hearn highlighted the importance of the structured training camp for Joshua, adding: “Fighters are at their happiest when they are in training camp.

The regiment is there, the discipline is there, the focus is there, the intention is there, the end goal is there. And although it is a lot of hard work, I really feel like AJ — when he is in training camp — that is him.”

Joshua had been in talks for a fight in Saudi Arabia in March, but those plans were postponed due to the accident. Hearn now expects the comeback bout to take place in July, with a potential clash against Fury pencilled in for November.

Tyson Fury is scheduled to return to action on 11 April against Arslanbek Makhmudov at Tottenham Stadium. While Hearn anticipates Joshua will take an initial fight before facing the WBC heavyweight champion, a direct route to Fury is not entirely ruled out.

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“There have been discussions about going straight into a Fury fight,” Hearn said. “With everything that has happened, I expect him to have a fight first in the summer. But until he gets back into training camp, there will be no decisions on the actual route that we take.”