Eddie Hearn has revealed that Anthony Joshua is likely to retire from boxing at the end of next year.
Joshua has been in the professional ranks since 2013, winning 28 of 32 total fights in the aftermath of his gold-medal winning success on home soil as an amateur at the London 2012 Olympics.
Such an illustrious career includes two separate reigns as the unified world heavyweight champion, the second of which was ended by his emphatic defeat in 2021 to Oleksandr Usyk, who also comfortably won the rematch 11 months later.
Joshua had been ramping up to another title tilt in the aftermath of those two damaging defeats to the unbeaten Usyk, but suffered his fourth loss - the first coming in shock fashion on his US debut against Andy Ruiz Jr at Madison Square Garden in 2019 - in devastating fashion last September as he was dominated and knocked out in the fifth round at Wembley Stadium by British rival Daniel Dubois, who successfully retained his IBF belt in a first defence and eventually secured his own rematch with Usyk to be held at Wembley next month.
Joshua’s next move after that chastening defeat by Dubois has yet to be revealed, with an elbow injury shelving initial plans for him to return to the ring this summer and requiring surgery, which it was estimated would prevent him from training for a period of between six and eight weeks.
Joshua and his promoters remain keen on him finally meeting Tyson Fury in a long-talked about contest that, despite both men now being beyond their peak would still generate enormous interest and lucrative financial rewards, while they would also hope to manoeuvre into position for another eventual crack at Usyk or Dubois.
Hearn has now revealed that Joshua may well exit the sport at the end of 2026, with potentially three last fights before then - including two against Fury, who retired from boxing again in January after his own back-to-back losses to Usyk but has since hinted at another return.
"Probably 2026 will be his last year in the sport," Hearn said of Joshua’s future on The Ariel Helwani Show.
"I mean you never know, but thinking about it, it's probably three fights away. If I'm advising AJ I'm thinking, 'We're back this year, two Tyson Fury fights, what else is there to do?'.
"He maybe could fight a Daniel Dubois, but I think for me, once AJ fights a Tyson Fury, he's kind of done it all.
"I'd love him to have another crack at Dubois, I'd love him to have another crack at Usyk. If we get to 2026 and he's firing on all cylinders then 2026 won't be his last year.
"But for me, something feels right about beating Tyson Fury twice and then sailing off into the sunset."
