Promoter Eddie Hearn is certain that when Anthony Joshua returns, it will be against Tyson Fury or Daniel Dubois.

Hearn, speaking on the Ariel Helwani show, said Joshua – recovering from injuries sustained in his September Wembley blockbuster against Dubois – would not be ready to fight when Dubois makes his first title defense on February 22. 

“He will either fight Daniel Dubois or Tyson Fury,” Hearn told Helwani. “They’re the only two fights I see. He wanted to go ahead on February 22 and fight Daniel Dubois and he just wouldn’t have been 100 per cent. He’s still got a couple of minor niggles from that fight. He can’t start camp yet and he needs to now, if he’s going to fight February 22.” 

Instead, Hearn sees a return possibly late spring or early summer and, regardless of what happens in the Riyadh return between Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury for the unified heavyweight titles (excluding Dubois’ IBF belt), Hearn can still see Joshua and Fury fighting.

“You’re going to see him [Joshua] around May or June time, and I think he’s desperate to rematch Daniel Dubois, but obviously Tyson Fury win or lose December 21 it’s going to be a fight that’s very difficult to remove yourself from,” admitted Hearn. “Those two have to meet before it’s all over. And that could be next.

“Win or lose. If he [Fury] wins, absolutely fantastic. He could defend his world unified championship against Anthony Joshua. If he loses, it’s the last dance for both. Either way it’s compelling. I want Fury to win. I want Fury to be world heavyweight champion because that’s what AJ wants, to try and become a three-time world heavyweight champion. That’s why he wants to rematch Dubois, because there is a shot at the world title there. If Fury can win, and we can make the AJ fight, that would definitely be my preferred route, but we’ll see what happens December 21.”

Fury-Joshua, though it should have happened by now, is still too big to miss out on, meaning both could come in off losses and it would still do huge numbers, particularly in the UK

“Look, it breaks all records. It’s just… I can’t even tell you… Two million pay-per-view buys.

“Obviously, they sell out at Wembley, but obviously His Excellency’s involved and will want to make sure that a fight like that could land in Riyadh, maybe even two fights.”

Hearn has previously said he could see a two bout scenario, with one in London and one in Saudi Arabia.