Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn has lifted the lid on what could be a huge year ahead for Anthony Joshua, revealing that talks are underway for major fights and new partnerships following a high-level meeting in Saudi Arabia.

Hearn disclosed that he recently met with Saudi boxing chief Turki Alalshikh in Riyadh, where discussions centred on expanding Matchroom Boxing’s collaboration and mapping out Anthony Joshua’s next career moves.

Speaking on The Stomping Ground, the Matchroom boss said, “A partnership with Matchroom that will be extended, but also just obviously talks of various different fights. You know, a lot of talks around AJ, of course.”

Hearn hinted that the meeting left him excited about what’s to come, but he remained cautious about revealing too much. “I’m not going to go into it too deep because I don’t want to jinx it, but big plans for Anthony Joshua. We’re ready, you know,” he said.

The promoter explained that the trip to Riyadh came after a productive sit-down with Joshua in Dubai. “It was a good meeting with AJ in Dubai, and when you sit down with His Excellency, it’s like, I had a flight back, I had to cancel the flight because he just goes in that mode, and it’s very difficult to explain, and he just wants to do business. And he wants to get things done ASAP,” Hearn said.

Joshua, who lost to Daniel Dubois in a world heavyweight title fight at Wembley Stadium in September last year, is expected to return to the ring early next year.

Talks are reportedly ongoing for a potential comeback bout in Nigeria, a move that would mark his first professional fight on African soil.

Among those eager to challenge him is Congolese heavyweight Martin Bakole, who has publicly thrown his hat in the ring. Bakole has proposed the fight be billed as “The Rumble in the Jungle II,” a nod to the historic 1974 clash between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman in Kinshasa.

If the Nigeria fight materialises, it would not only reignite Joshua’s global profile but also signal a new era for African boxing, with the sport’s spotlight returning to the continent over 50 years after Ali’s iconic triumph.

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