Plans remain afoot for Joshua to lock horns with Tyson Fury after last night's victory

FORMER world heavyweight boxing champion Anthony Joshua is being prepared for a major showdown with long term rival Tyson Fury later this year following his successful bout against former YouTuber Jake Paul last night.

Yesterday, at Miami's Kaseya Centre, Joshua, 36, knocked out Paul, 28, in the sixth round after four heavy knockdowns and is believed to have broken his jaw with a final vicious shot. Paul had promised to deliver one of the biggest upsets in boxing history, with the 13-fight novice stepping up to fight one of the most devastating finishers in heavyweight boxing.

However, the bout proved to be a terrible mismatch as from the opening bell, Paul was on his bike, scampering around the ring out his opponent’s reach as Joshua stalked his prey. While Joshua got the win in brutal fashion in the end, it was a poor performance by his own admission, missing wildly with power shots early on.

However, Joshua has been out of action for 15 months and with this fight now out of the way, his promoter Eddie Hearn has confirmed plans for a February 2026 fight followed by a potential long-awaited showdown with Tyson Fury. Joshua had not fought since suffering a crushing fifth-round knockout loss to fellow Briton Daniel Dubois at Wembley in September 2024 and yesterday's win is seen as him being on the comeback trail.

Mr Hearn said: "Next year, we will fight in February and then we will fight Tyson Fury if Turki Al-Sheikh the chairman of Saudi Arabia's General Entertainment Authority delivers on his plans and strategies. We spoke with him in London this week and everything that we do with Anthony Joshua will be in accordance with and under the guidance of Turki Al-Sheikh.

"It's Turki Al-Sheikh's responsibility to talk to Tyson Fury and try and make the deal. I can't tell you we're fighting Tyson Fury but what I can tell you is Turki Al-Sheikh has told us. He has given us amazing opportunities and the game plan will be put together with him."

Speaking in the ring afterwards, Joshua admitted his own display was under-par but gave credit to his opponent. He added that Paul deserves kudos for getting up, time and time again, pointing out that it was difficult for him but he kept on trying.

Over the last five years, plans for a Joshua/Fury fight keep getting scuppered at the last minute  due to technicalities and contractual disagreements. At one point in time, they held all the belts in heavyweight boxing and an all-British unification fight was looked forward to with relish as the mother of all battles.