The retirement of Tyson Fury means that Anthony Joshua has a new goal as he plots his next move, according to Eddie Hearn.
The two Brits looked to be heading towards a long-awaited showdown later year, only for Fury to announce his shock retirement last month, just weeks after a second defeat to Oleksandr Usyk.
Johnson, who is looking to bounce back from his defeat to Daniel Dubois at Wembley Stadium in September, will have a keen eye on this weekend’s showdown between Dubois and Joseph Parker, that will be broadcast live on DAZN Pay-Per-View on Saturday (February 22) at Riyadh Season's The Last Crescendo (buy now here).
“Right now because Tyson Fury is retired, so put him to the side, the number one choice for AJ is to fight for the world heavyweight title,” Joshua's promoter Hearn told BetFred.
“That's 99 per cent of what he wants to do and if that's Daniel Dubois, no problem. If that's Joseph Parker, no problem.
Mark Robinson / Matchroom Boxing
“If AJ turns around and says that's what he's doing, then it's done. It's not me saying he can't fight Daniel Dubois. Some people say he shouldn't have fought Oleksandr Usyk. What are you talking about?
“It's your job, he's the mandatory, what do you want to do? Give your belt up and have all that criticism that you ducked Usyk and you vacated your belt to do it?”
One option that Joshua is not yet considering at this stage is following Fury into retirement.
"Not yet, but there will come the time," Hearn continued.
Read next | Daniel Dubois makes brutal prediction ahead of Joseph Parker world title fight
"Those kinds of conversations really come from behind the scenes from how somebody is performing in camp. In camp, if you haven't got it anymore, it'll be apparent. The injuries will get worse, you'll get hurt in sparring against somebody you shouldn't be getting hurt against.
"You're not sharp and when that moment comes, that's when the team will say 'AJ's not looking good you know' and that's the moment when I will probably have a conversation with him.
"For the Daniel Dubois fight, the camp was great. He was super sharp and we were really confident going into that fight, coming off four good wins, two really good wins, and we thought he would win.
"We knew how dangerous the fight was, so he comes out, has a terrible start, never really recovers, comes back into the fight a little bit and gets chinned. No problem.
"If camp had gone really poorly and we were unsure, I think that conversation may have been brought forward.
Daniel Dubois vs Joseph Parker fight date, start time
Daniel Dubois vs Joseph Parker will take place on Saturday, February 22 at Riyadh Season's The Last Crescendo, with the whole card set to be shown live on DAZN.
The main fight card and DAZN broadcast will begin at 4pm GMT in the UK; 11am ET; 8am PT; 7pm KSA.
Dubois versus Parker will start at 9:10pm GMT; 5:10pm ET; 2:10pm PT; 12:10am KSA.
- Date : Saturday, February 22
- Time : 4pm GMT; 11am ET; 8am PT; 7pm KSA
- Daniel Dubois vs. Joseph Parker main event ringwalks (approx) : 9:10pm GMT; 5:10pm ET; 2:10pm PT; 12:10am KSA
Daniel Dubois vs Joseph Parker fight card
- Artur Beterbiev vs Dmitry Bivol ; Undisputed light heavyweight title fight, for Beterbiev's WBA, WBC, IBF, WBO and The Ring belts
- Daniel Dubois vs Joseph Parker ; For Dubois' IBF heavyweight title
- Shakur Stevenson vs Flloyd Schofield ; For Stevenson's WBC lightweight title
- Carlos Adames vs Hamzah Sheeraz ; For Adames' WBC middleweight title
- Vergil Ortiz Jr vs Israil Madrimov ; For Ortiz Jr's WBC world interim super welterweight title
- Zhilei Zhang vs Agit Kabayel ; For the vacant WBC interim heavyweight title
- Joshua Buatsi vs Callum Smith ; For Buatsi's WBO light heavyweight interim titl e
How to watch Dubois vs Parker?
Daniel Dubois versus Joseph Parker and the whole fight card at The Last Crescendo, including Beterbiev vs Bivol 2, will be available through DAZN Pay-Per-View.
The PPV is available to buy now at £19.99 in UK and $25.99 in US .
Buying the DAZN PPV offers a range of extra benefits. including alternative commentary options with Adam Smith or True Geordie or Showbizz the Adult ; local language commentary, and (for UK only) entry to a prize draw for tickets to Chris Eubank Jr. vs Connor Benn*.
Watch the fight night anywhere with DAZN via smart TV's, smartphones, tablets, games consoles, streaming devices and PC's / laptops.
Buying the Last Crescendo PPV provides a free seven-day trial of the full DAZN platform, with access to all boxing content, plus live action across football, golf, tennis, motorsport and more**.
For PPV costs in your country and to buy now, click here .
*UK only. Restrictions apply. See T&Cs on help.dazn.com. Full T&C's here
**Sports available in free trial dependent on country of residence
Where is the Daniel Dubois vs Joseph Parker fight?
Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol 2 will take place at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, which has fast become the de-facto home for Riyadh Season super-cards.
The 27,000-capacity stadium, certified as the largest covered football stadium in the world by the Guinness World Records , is the home of Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal.
It previously hosted both of Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury's heavyweight bouts, plus the first undisputed light-heavyweight fight between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol.
Daniel Dubois vs Joseph Parker tale of the tape
Daniel Dubois record
- Nationality : British
- Age : 27
- Height : 6' 5"
- Reach : 78"
- Total fights : 24
- Record : 22-2 (21 KOs)
Joseph Parker record
- Nationality : New Zealander
- Age : 33
- Height : 6' 4"
- Reach : 76"
- Total fights : 38
- Record : 35-3 (23 KOs)
Daniel Dubois vs. Joshua Parker form and history
Both Daniel Dubois and Joseph Parker may not have expected this fight to be made six months ago, but all changed when the former stopped Joshua at Wembley Stadium.
With AJ bidding to become a three-time world champion, Dubois - in his first defence since he was elevated from the interim title - dropped him multiple times early on.
It lead to a fifth-round stoppage, and when Joshua was said to not be ready for a rematch to take place in February, his rival moved onto another target in the revived Parker.
After a loss to Joe Joyce in September 2022, it looked like the end of the road at the top end for the latter, but he has rebuilt with several fantastic performances since then.
Most notably, he scored major decision victories over two of the division's other top names, in Deontay Wilder and Zhilei Zhang, to restore his standing and help set up this bout.
More boxing
- Beterbiev vs Bivol 2: Fight guide
- Dubois vs Parker: Fight guide
- Boxing champions list in every division
- Complete list of undisputed heavyweight boxing champions
- How do weight classes work?
- What are the major boxing titles?
- How is boxing scored?
Daniel Dubois vs Joseph Parker fight date, start time
Daniel Dubois vs Joseph Parker will take place on Saturday, February 22 at Riyadh Season's The Last Crescendo, with the whole card set to be shown live on DAZN.
The main fight card and DAZN broadcast will begin at 4pm GMT in the UK; 11am ET; 8am PT; 7pm KSA.
Dubois versus Parker will start at 9:10pm GMT; 5:10pm ET; 2:10pm PT; 12:10am KSA.
- Date : Saturday, February 22
- Time : 4pm GMT; 11am ET; 8am PT; 7pm KSA
- Daniel Dubois vs. Joseph Parker main event ringwalks (approx) : 9:10pm GMT; 5:10pm ET; 2:10pm PT; 12:10am KSA
Daniel Dubois vs Joseph Parker fight card
- Artur Beterbiev vs Dmitry Bivol ; Undisputed light heavyweight title fight, for Beterbiev's WBA, WBC, IBF, WBO and The Ring belts
- Daniel Dubois vs Joseph Parker ; For Dubois' IBF heavyweight title
- Shakur Stevenson vs Flloyd Schofield ; For Stevenson's WBC lightweight title
- Carlos Adames vs Hamzah Sheeraz ; For Adames' WBC middleweight title
- Vergil Ortiz Jr vs Israil Madrimov ; For Ortiz Jr's WBC world interim super welterweight title
- Zhilei Zhang vs Agit Kabayel ; For the vacant WBC interim heavyweight title
- Joshua Buatsi vs Callum Smith ; For Buatsi's WBO light heavyweight interim titl e
How to watch Dubois vs Parker?
Daniel Dubois versus Joseph Parker and the whole fight card at The Last Crescendo, including Beterbiev vs Bivol 2, will be available through DAZN Pay-Per-View.
The PPV is available to buy now at £19.99 in UK and $25.99 in US .
Buying the DAZN PPV offers a range of extra benefits. including alternative commentary options with Adam Smith or True Geordie or Showbizz the Adult ; local language commentary, and (for UK only) entry to a prize draw for tickets to Chris Eubank Jr. vs Connor Benn*.
Watch the fight night anywhere with DAZN via smart TV's, smartphones, tablets, games consoles, streaming devices and PC's / laptops.
Buying the Last Crescendo PPV provides a free seven-day trial of the full DAZN platform, with access to all boxing content, plus live action across football, golf, tennis, motorsport and more**.
For PPV costs in your country and to buy now, click here .
*UK only. Restrictions apply. See T&Cs on help.dazn.com. Full T&C's here
**Sports available in free trial dependent on country of residence
Where is the Daniel Dubois vs Joseph Parker fight?
Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol 2 will take place at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, which has fast become the de-facto home for Riyadh Season super-cards.
The 27,000-capacity stadium, certified as the largest covered football stadium in the world by the Guinness World Records , is the home of Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal.
It previously hosted both of Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury's heavyweight bouts, plus the first undisputed light-heavyweight fight between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol.
Daniel Dubois vs Joseph Parker tale of the tape
Daniel Dubois record
- Nationality : British
- Age : 27
- Height : 6' 5"
- Reach : 78"
- Total fights : 24
- Record : 22-2 (21 KOs)
Joseph Parker record
- Nationality : New Zealander
- Age : 33
- Height : 6' 4"
- Reach : 76"
- Total fights : 38
- Record : 35-3 (23 KOs)
Daniel Dubois vs. Joshua Parker form and history
Both Daniel Dubois and Joseph Parker may not have expected this fight to be made six months ago, but all changed when the former stopped Joshua at Wembley Stadium.
With AJ bidding to become a three-time world champion, Dubois - in his first defence since he was elevated from the interim title - dropped him multiple times early on.
It lead to a fifth-round stoppage, and when Joshua was said to not be ready for a rematch to take place in February, his rival moved onto another target in the revived Parker.
After a loss to Joe Joyce in September 2022, it looked like the end of the road at the top end for the latter, but he has rebuilt with several fantastic performances since then.
Most notably, he scored major decision victories over two of the division's other top names, in Deontay Wilder and Zhilei Zhang, to restore his standing and help set up this bout.
More boxing
- Beterbiev vs Bivol 2: Fight guide
- Dubois vs Parker: Fight guide
- Boxing champions list in every division
- Complete list of undisputed heavyweight boxing champions
- How do weight classes work?
- What are the major boxing titles?
- How is boxing scored?