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“50-50 chance Anthony Joshua fights in 2025.”

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Image: Eddie Hearn's Risky Plan to Resurrect Anthony Joshua's Career Against a Dangerous Tune-up Opponent

Eddie Hearn says there is “50-50” the chance that Anthony Joshua will be able to fight before the end of the year on the undercard in December.

This would be the first time in a decade, since 2015, that AJ would fight on the undercard. The standard of the opponent would obviously be very low and you have to respect Hearn and Joshua for choosing to headline this fight.

Understandably, Hearn is not willing to risk associating Joshua with a killer after a 15-month break and a brutal fifth-round knockout defeat to Daniel Dubois in September 2024. Despite three losses in his last seven fights, 2012 Olympic gold medalist AJ is still golden goose for Hearn’s Matchroom.

Makhmudov: The perfect enemy with risk and reward

The perfect enemy for Joshua would be Russian heavyweight Arslanbek Makhmudov. It’s gigantic, snail-paced, but powerful. He would be a decent enough fighter that the boxing public would be interested in fighting Joshua. But if this was a main event fight, fans would protest and pay to watch this farce.

Hearn drops the 50-50 bomb.

Matchroom promoter Hearn believes it would be “beneficial” for former two-time heavyweight champion Joshua (28-4, 25 KO) to clear the ring rust after a year of inactivity and get him ready for gigantic fights in 2026.

The two gigantic fights Hearn has planned for the 36-year-old Joshua next year:

The fight against “Fury” is still up in the air at this stage and will depend on whether the seemingly reluctant “Gypsy King” is willing to fight him. So far, Fury has resisted the pressure to fight Joshua in the ring. This is an ongoing phenomenon that has been going on for over a decade. Thanks to the $160 million Tyson has earned over his successful career, he has enough wealth to resist fan pressure to face AJ.

Riyadh or California? Two options

“It will probably be 50-50 for him to fight this year. If he ends up on the undercard somewhere, it will give him a chance to get back on the field and it will be very beneficial for his career,” said Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn. Ring Magazine about Anthony Joshua.

AJ should fight in December if he hopes to fight Fury in the first quarter of 2026. He will need training to aid him prepare for the great 6-foot-8 Tyson. Entering such a match after missing the ring since September 2024 would be a bad idea for Joshua.

“It’s December 13 in California. There’s also a gala in Riyad on December 27. It might not even be something we announce a few weeks in advance,” Hearn said of Joshua’s potential next fight before the end of 2025. “He’s in the gym, he’s staying ready, so we can say, ‘You’re out in two weeks in an eight-round fight.’

Last update: 22/10/2025

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Boxing

Tyson Fury doubts whether the judges will give him victory over Oleksandr Usyk

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Image: Usyk's Coach Disputes Referee's Standing Eight Count for Fury

“I won the third fight,” Fury told Gareth A. Davies. “But the thing is, I know if he gets up at the end of the fight, I’m not going to make a decision. For me, it’s like, I might as well give him the fight before we even start boxing. Give him a W and I’ll give him an L.”

Usyk defeated Fury twice in 2024 in hard-fought championship fights that decided the undisputed heavyweight title. The Ukrainian’s victories transformed the division and left Fury trying to rebuild momentum in the final stage of his career.

When the discussion turned to the scoring of these fights, Fury made it clear that he still viewed the outcome differently from the official verdicts.

“And like I said, I thought I won that fight,” Fury said. “But you know what he did? That’s someone else’s opinion again.”

Fury’s comments suggest that from his perspective the debate surrounding these fights remains unresolved. Instead of treating the defeats as decisive setbacks, the former champion still doubts whether a third meeting would have produced a different outcome on the scorecards.

This lingering doubt keeps the trilogy discussion alive even as the heavyweight landscape moves forward with other matchups. Fury has talked about returning to winning form and then fighting main fights again, but his comments show that the controversy surrounding Usyk’s decision has not abated.

For Fury, the conclusion remains the same: if he doesn’t stop Usyk, he doubts the judges would award him the victory.

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Boxing

The 0-40 with 36 KO heavyweight division returns under a up-to-date name, now 0-43

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Boxing record graphic for Alexis Rafael Castillo Sanchez, also known as Alexis de la Cruz Shephard, showing a 0-43 record

World Boxing News first reported on Dominican fighter Alexis Rafael Castillo Sanchez after he set one of the most remarkable records in current boxing by losing his first 40 professional fights, 36 of them by knockout.

At that point, it seemed like the story was over. Castillo Sanchez’s career appeared to be over in 2018 after a long string of losses that spanned over a decade in the sport.

However, official fight records show that the boxer later returned to the ring under a completely different name in his 40s.

Since then, Castillo Sanchez has competed as Alexis de la Cruz Shephard, adding three more attacks to improve a record that was 0-40 when the case was first reviewed by WBN.

All three bouts ended in consecutive stoppage defeats, bringing the overall score to 0-43, with 39 losses by knockout.

For two of these latter defeats, there are no confirmed match stoppage details in the official records, meaning the exact moment or method of the knockout was never formally documented.

Name change

The change makes the situation even more unusual.

The boxer, previously known as Alexis Rafael Castillo Sanchez, has appeared on recent fight lists as Alexis de la Cruz Shephard, which is a significant change from the name under which he was recorded earlier in his career.

World Boxing News determined the career continued after reviewing opponents’ recent records, where matching biographical details ultimately revealed the same fighter was competing again years after the original report.

Latest fights

The three additional fights occurred between 2022 and 2024, during which time Shephard was competing between the ages of 45 and 47, according to records.

In April 2022, Shephard lost by TKO to Dario Duran Gonzalez in Moncion. Four months later, he returned to Monte Plata, where he suffered another defeat in the second round against Emille Gonzalez Lopez.

His last appearance was on December 18, 2024 in Santo Domingo, where Shephard was stopped in the opening round by Omar Alexander Rivera Cerda after suffering a shoulder injury.

Each fight followed a familiar pattern from the earlier part of his career, which had already seen dozens of early finals.

An extraordinary record

When WBN first considered the case, Castillo Sanchez’s record was already distinguished by the huge number of losses due to stoppages and the length of the series.

The fighter started his career in 2007 and competed in many weight classes before finally moving up to heavyweight.

During this period, he faced a wide range of opponents, from first-time prospects to seasoned professionals, rarely lasting beyond the early rounds.

Additional fights recorded under the pseudonym Alexis de la Cruz Shephard extended this streak even further, creating one of current boxing’s strangest records.

Time will tell if his career will last beyond 0-43.


About the author

Phil Jay is the editor-in-chief of World Boxing News (WBN) and a boxing veteran with over 15 years of experience. Read the full biography.

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Rolly Romero only sees one winner in Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao 2

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Rolly Romero sees only one winner in Mayweather vs Manny Pacquiao 2

WBA welterweight world champion Rolando Romero presented his prediction for Floyd Mayweather’s rematch with Manny Pacquiao.

Two pound-for-pound legends will face off at the Sphere in Las Vegason September 19, and their second meeting was the highlight of a live event on Netflix.

Their first meeting, which ended with Mayweather winning by unanimous decision, took place in 2015 and became the most lucrative boxing gala of all time.

By then, former multi-division world champions were already considered to be past their prime, and Pacquiao in particular no longer had the speed and ferocity for which he had always been known.

It must be admitted, however, that the Filipino has played eight professional matches since their first meeting, and his last assignment was in July against Mario Barrios.

And despite a nearly four-year layoff following his loss to Yordenis Ugas, Pacquiao was able to hold a controversial draw against the then-WBC welterweight champion.

Meanwhile, Mayweather hasn’t fought professionally since a 10th-round victory over Conor McGregor in 2017, but his dominant victory over “Pac Man” more than two years earlier led many to predict a similar result in the rematch.

One of them is Romero, who told “The Last Stand” podcast. that he cannot see Pacquiao, at the age of 47, making any drastic changes to his original performance.

“Floyd wins. And whatever happens, happens. It was meant to be. Whoever God wants to win, will win.”

“But what would be the difference [to] first fight? Was there really anything else Pacquiao could have had? [done]?”

Mayweather, now 49, has competed in a series of exhibition matches since his victory over McGregor, but now he is preparing to put his 50-0 record on the line.

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