Eddie Hearn expects Anthony Joshua to return “in late summer” after the serious car accident in Nigeria. A duel with Tyson Fury is off the table for the time being and is more likely to be a topic for late 2026 or early 2027.
According to promoter Eddie Hearn, Anthony Joshua is working on his return. However, Hearn is deliberately cautious: physically, the former world champion is not yet ready to return to training camp immediately. Hearn is therefore looking at a “late summer” date, with July as a possible target – provided Joshua is actually able to return to camp in the coming weeks.
The original plan looked different. Hearn spoke of Joshua fighting in March and then taking on Tyson Fury in August. However, this scenario is off the table after the events of the past few weeks.
Accident in Nigeria overshadows planning
The background to this is the car accident in Lagos on December 29, which Joshua survived but in which two close friends of his died. Since then, the focus has been on processing and regeneration – also because every next fight is “dangerous”, as Hearn emphasizes.
Tyson Fury, who is set to return against Arslanbek Makhmudov on April 11, emotionally links his own comeback to Joshua’s tragedy. He describes the news as the “biggest turning point” and says it reminded him how fragile plans can be.
For Hearn, the Fury fight remains fundamentally attractive, but it is more realistic at the end of 2026 or beginning of 2027 – provided Joshua finds his rhythm again.
Text by Robin Josten