Boxing

Who could Anthony Joshua fight in a warm-up before a possible fight with Tyson Fury?

Published

6 months ago

April 15, 2026

Anthony Joshua needs an opponent for his next fight to properly prepare for his fight with Tyson Fury.

This was confirmed by promoter Eddie Hearn Talks are ongoing about the long-awaited fight with Furyand Joshua is set to have a warm-up fight in July, which will be his first return to the ring since his involvement in in December, a tragic car accident killed two of his friends.

Joshua previously defeated Jake Paul after losing to Daniel Dubois by knockout. Fury’s comeback from retirement to overtake Arslanbek Makhmudov and his subsequent call on Joshua made the dream clash with the British heavyweight once again a reality.

But first, a warm-up fight. Against whom? Hearn said Joshua would fight someone of a “similar level” to defeated opponent Fury Makhmudov. Here are some names that might fit the bill…

Justi Huni

Australian challenger Justis Huni (13-1, 7 KO) defeated Frazer Clarke by majority decision in the Fury vs. match over the weekend. Makhmudov, thus setting the best result of his career so far. Huni’s ceiling of possibilities has yet to be discovered.

Last year, he outplayed and outscored Fabio Wardley for nine rounds until he was the victim of a knockout from behind, his only loss to date.

Huni’s next step after defeating Clarke will likely be to target a world-class opponent with an even higher profile. However, if he doesn’t achieve a gigantic victory himself or finish high in the rankings, he may become an option that will determine Joshua’s return to the ring.

Seven years ago, then aged 20, Huni traveled to Sheffield to train with Joshua. Meeting him in the ring would be a full circle moment.

Cassius Chaney

6-foot-6 American heavyweight (24-4, 17 KO) Cassius Chaney was on the shortlist to fight Joshua before the former champion ultimately decided to face Paul in delayed 2025.

“It sucks to miss a great opportunity but there’s nothing wrong with it, that’s business,” Chaney told Sky Sports. “I’m glad I’m knocking on the door. Everything is finally working out.”

Interestingly, Chaney then worked with Paul in the build-up to the fight with Joshua as a sparring partner. He is the same height as the Briton, and the former YouTuber-turned-boxer has used his level of physicality in his preparation.

Before Paul’s fight camp and his dealings with Joshua, Chaney fought relatively unnoticed. At 38 years elderly, fighting Joshua would be a gigantic deal and a great way to potentially end his career.

Chaney last fought in January when he was defeated by Alexander Flores by seventh-round stoppage. He could be a safe and sound, low-risk fight for Joshua as he works to get back to the levels required for the Fury.

Guido Vianello

Nicknamed “Gladiator”, the 31-year-old Italian (14-3-1, 12 KO) challenged Joshua several times, even proposing the Roman Colosseum as the venue for any fight.

“Now I want to have a gigantic name,” he said last year. “You want to know what gigantic name I want? Anthony Joshua. I want Anthony Joshua. I want him in front of me. Let’s fight in Rome, the Colosseum, London – whatever you want. But give me the gigantic name, please. I don’t have extra time, I want to win now.”

Vianello’s stock rose in 2024 and 2025 when he defeated Arslanbek Makhmudov by stoppage and brutally knocked out undefeated Alexis Barriere.

The dismantling of Barriere was impressive from Vianello, who imposed his size and strength on the fight after taking several counterattacks in the earlier rounds.

It was a timely reminder of what Vianello could do. Defeats to Efe Ajagba and Richard Torrez Jr. caused his reputation to suffer, but may result in him being considered a rival to Joshua.

Murat Gasijew

The Russian, currently the holder of the “regular” WBA heavyweight belt, would be an compelling test for Joshua despite losing two inches of height and six inches of reach. Murat Gassiev (33-2, 26 KO) is stylistically a mini-heavyweight who focuses on crushing strength and endurance, not elite footwork.

He is a former unified cruiserweight champion who lost an undisputed title fight to Oleksandr Usyk. It seeks to work the body while providing powerful power when required. Gassijew’s last appearance came in December, when he knocked out Kubrat Pulev, also a former opponent of Joshua.

A furious left hook was too much for the aging Pulev, but Joshua would be a much sterner test of Gassiev’s greatness at heavyweight. Gassiev, 34, also said he was preparing for a summer fight and even invoked the name of British sensation Moses Itauma.

“I’m just training,” he said. “We have a plan to fight in the middle of summer, like in July, and we are working on it now.”

Dillian Whyte

A rematch with Dillian Whyte has long been planned for Joshua and has already failed once.

Whyte and Joshua were fierce rivals early in their careers and clashed in an incensed clash, which Joshua won by knockout before becoming world champion. A rematch was planned three years ago but was canceled when Whyte presented unfavorable drug test results.

Perhaps now that Joshua is looking for a rival to strengthen, Whyte’s idea will be presented to him again.

Whyte has not appeared in the ring and has no next fight scheduled after being knocked down in a round by Moses Itauma last August. He has only fought three times in the last three years and he is currently 38 years elderly.

His threat level could be seen as an all-time low, and a rematch with Joshua ties into the bad blood storyline from their youth.

Whyte told Sky Sports: “I would love it, but no one has mentioned it to me and I don’t know anything about it. And AJ probably most likely wants to fight Deontay Wilder right now.”

Deontay Wilder

Deontay Wilder (45-4-1, 43 KO) was once Joshua’s dream opponent. It was a clash of two powerful knockouts from both sides of the Atlantic, who both held heavyweight titles. But the Wilder vs. Joshua, like Fury vs. Joshua, also never happened, even though it seemed close in 2018. Now? This was mentioned in very different circumstances.

Wilder lost four of six fights before he overtook Derek Chisora in a bruising contest in London earlier this month. Now the 40-year-old former WBC champion, once considered one of the greatest boxers in boxing history, can fight his last fight against the elite of his division.

Flame in the Wilder vs. fight Joshua caught fire again when the Briton appeared in the ring during the American’s fight with Chisora. Wilder walked past Joshua before the fight, avoiding eye contact, creating an icy, awkward moment that sparked novel intrigue in this forgotten fight.

Wilder then punched Joshua and muttered “let’s do it”, before being overheard claiming his rival was “scared”.

Wilder opened the door to a fight with Joshua, saying: “It wasn’t just a few words, I discussed it with him and said, ‘Now let’s get down to business.’ I’m ready for anyone, as long as these guys are heavyweight, I’m here.”

Joshua’s promoter Hearn cheekily suggested Wilder – once his biggest rival – as his warm-up opponent this summer.

“We have made it clear that we are ready to fight Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury back-to-back,” Hearn said. “I’m not being disrespectful that Wilder is a warm-up fight.”

Boxing

WBO Denies Denzel Bentleys Appeal; Must Face Yoenli Hernandez or Vacate Title

Published

9 hours ago

October 22, 2026

The Punch Junkie™ News

"WBO Denies Denzel Bentley’s Appeal; Must Face Yoenli Hernandez or Vacate Title"

Another day, another Zuffa signee losing his belt for shirking his responsibilities. WBO president Gustavo Olivieri announced that the sanctioning body has denied middleweight champion Denzel Bentley’s appeal for a voluntary defense, giving him 24 hours to commit to facing mandatory challenger Yoenli Hernandez.

Bentley (22-3-1, 18 KO) was the beneficiary of Janibek Alimkhanuly’s failed drug test and subsequent emigration to the super middleweight division, as the move elevated the interim belt he’d claimed against Endry Saavendra in April to the real deal. That came with conditions, namely a mandated showdown with Hernandez (11-0, 9 KO) that failed to produce a a contract.

As for who’ll fight Hernandez for it, Vito Mielnicki Jr sits behind him at no. 2, followed by an otherwise-occupied Tim TszyuMichael Zerafa (lmao), and Fiodor Czerkaszyn. We’ll let you know as soon as an enterprising bachelor steps up.

Boxing

WBO Denies Denzel Bentleys Appeal; Orders Showdown with Yoenli Hernandez or Vacate Title

Published

9 hours ago

October 22, 2026

The Punch Junkie™ News

"WBO Denies Denzel Bentley's Appeal; Orders Showdown with Yoenli Hernandez or Vacate Title"

Boxing

Bob Arum Comments on Zuffa Boxings Position as Saudis Scale Back Involvement

Published

10 hours ago

October 22, 2026

The Punch Junkie™ News

Bob Arum Comments on Zuffa Boxing's Position as Saudis Scale Back Involvement

Top Rank promoter Bob Arum is back on the scene with a new knee! And now that he’s getting around again, he was able to catch up with Fight Hub TV to give his perspective on what’s been going on in the boxing business as of late, particularly as it pertains to Zuffa Boxing who appear to be in a state of flux. Check out what he had to say below!

Arum on Zuffa’s place in boxing landscape

“When you look at Zuffa, they are hoping to do what they’re doing with Saudi money and the Saudis have poured a lot of money into the sport and for a while were backing Zuffa, so Zuffa felt emboldened to offer big [money] to good fighters like Shakur Stevenson. Now, apparently the Saudis, Turki and Sela have gotten the word from up high in Saudi Arabia, ‘hey, this money is not going to be unlimited, you’ve got to cut down,’ or there’s no money — I don’t know what they’ve told them.

“So the Saudis are clearly pulling back and who knows if they’re going to be involved in boxing after this year. They’ve already, apparently, sold Ring Magazine to DAZN. So, if the Saudi money isn’t there, Zuffa is not going to spend its own money to promote fights because they have announced to their shareholders that they would not do that. And if they start doing it, then they leave themselves open to a major shareholder suit.

“So, again, we have to see what’s going to happen. There’s no animosity, people are doing what they feel is best for them and that’s business. How this all turns out, we’re going to have to see next year and the years after that.”

On whether he thinks Zuffa has done a good job thus far

“What does it mean to have done a good job? If somebody gave me a barrel of money to put on fights, would I be doing a good job? Sure. But anybody would be doing a good job. I mean, give Oscar this kind of money, give Eddie this kind of money.

“So it’s not a question of a good job, the question is can they make matches having a limited budget that is limited by the financial viability of the fight, not what somebody from the outside is pouring into it. That’s doing a big, good job — making it work for them, for the public, for the fighters without the fighters outside help putting in all this money without any way to get it back.”

On Shakur splitting with Zuffa before one fight together

“Once they realized there was no money coming from the Saudis to fund a $15M fight deal, then what do you do? If you can get out of that contract, you get out of it. Did they get out, did it cost them any money to get out? I don’t know. But, again, to pay Shakur $15M…financially it’s not viable. So, it is what it is. And once the Saudis really left the message that they got the word from The Boss that this unlimited tap is going to stop, it was bound to happen.”

On the Shakur vs Devin fight falling apart

“The fight fell apart, but essentially it fell apart is because DAZN had promised [Devin] Haney a certain amount of money, Zuffa had promised Shakur a certain amount of money, and it wasn’t a match because that money didn’t exist in the fight that they would have…Would the fight have justified the money being put up? Because otherwise nobody wants to break their ass doing a fight, promoting a fight, and ending up facing an absolute possibility that you’re going to lose money.”

On his prediction for the business once the Saudi money evaporates

“Looking at the past when this happened, and in boxing it happens all the time, the market then settles and fighters fight for what’s available and we get some very good fights that still go on and life continues. But how it’s going to come out after this, where we had so much money being put into the sport not existing, how is the sport going to continue? It’s going to continue, but how is it going to continue, I don’t know.

“Remember, [Al] Haymon came in when he had that deal with the mutual fund with hundreds of millions of dollars, and all he accomplished was pissing it away. So, again, I have the experience and I’ve been around enough not to say definitively what’s going to happen because I don’t know like nobody else does. I have an idea but again, it’s just an idea and not worth talking about. All I know is that the sport will continue, there will be great fights being made. How everybody will be compensated remains to be seen but that’s in the future.“

On Ryan Garcia saying he’s going to fight Floyd Mayweather for the WBC title

“Will people be interested in it? I don’t know. I know Floyd [Mayweather] needs the money ‘cause he’s pissed away tons of the money that he made. I mean, he blames Haymon for that, he blames this for that, but ultimately I blame him for pissing it away. Will Garcia vs Mayweather generate money? Will it generate enough money to satisfy these guys? I don’t know. I think there will be limited interest in a fight where you have a young guy at the peak of his boxing prowess fighting an old man, which Mayweather has now become.”

On the Eddie Hearn vs Dana White beef over promoting Fury vs AJ, and Hearn insisting White can’t be involved

“Well, that’s right. Eddie [Hearn] is correct. Frank [Warren] and I have a contract with [Tyson] FuryEddie has a contract with [Anthony] Joshua. Dana has a contract with nobody. But if Dana wanted to be involved with the fight, be my guest. I mean, the money is the money. The Saudis are putting up the bulk of the money in that fight. They’ll do a good gate, get back some of it. But again, what do I care? What should anybody care?”