EDDIE HEARN revealed Turki Alalshikh is pushing to bring Tyson Fury out of retirement to fight Anthony Joshua.
Fury retired in January – just one month after losing for the second time to Oleksandr Usyk.
Anthony Joshua is set to return after injury[/caption]
Tyson Fury is also preparing to come out of retirement[/caption]
But the eccentric and unpredictable Gypsy King has continued to tease a comeback in 2026.
Joshua meanwhile has been out of the ring since September 2024 when he was knocked out by Daniel Dubois.
But Hearn is working on a comeback bout for AJ before eyeing a super-fight with Fury next year.
The promoter flew out for talks with Saudi boxing chief Alalshikh and announced a sponsorship deal across all Matchroom’s sports events.
But Hearn said talks also turned to the long-awaited Battle of Britain.
Hearn told Ring Magazine: “He wants to make AJ against Fury, that’s no secret.
“He wants to make the biggest fights in the sport and that is the biggest fight in boxing right now.
“We’ve got to agree our end and then it’s up to Turki whether he can get Fury in the ring.
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“The best thing about these situations now is that it’s not me speaking to Frank Warren or Spencer Brown or Tyson Fury trying to do a deal.
“We just have to do our deal and if Turki can make the fight then it’s on. If he can’t, it’s not on. We are focussing on that side.
“We have a plan for AJ to get him back in the ring as soon as possible and then lead up to a huge fight against Tyson Fury in 2026.
“We will do our deal with Turki and he will try and do his deal with Tyson Fury. Fingers crossed we can make it happen.”
Hearn has received approaches for Joshua, 35, to make his return in Africa and recently met up with the former champion in Dubai.
He said: “AJ is in a great place. When I get that phone call to say, ‘Come see me, I’m ready,’ he’s ready. He’s in camp now to fight.”
Hearn also expects Joshua to retain the services of coach Ben Davison – who formerly trained Fury.
He said: “He has been training with various different people.
“He’s got a great relationship with Ben and he knows Ben is No. 1 a very good coach and No. 2 from a research point of view maybe second to none in the sport.
“Right now he’s getting himself ready physically to do the hard part of camp, the sparring and that solid 8-10 week period and that’s imminent really. We’d like him to return this year.”
Meanwhile Fury’s promoter Frank Warren revealed the 37-year-old is preparing to come out of retirement.
Warren told DAZN: “I spoke to him last week; he said that he’s going to come back and fight next year. He wants to do it.
“He’s had a very busy year this year. He’s obviously not had a fight this year, but as we’ve all seen, he’s had his documentary.
“He’s been filming with Netflix for his At Home with the Fury’s series. He’s also got another documentary that he’s finishing off, plus other things.
“He wants – I mean, he’s told me categorically – he wants to fight next year. So, we’ll sit down and see.”
Frank Warren says Fury is ready to make a return[/caption]
Turki Alalshikh met with Eddie Hearn in Saudi Arabia[/caption]
