Anthony Joshua will return ‘in the form of his life’ as Tyson Fury eyed for 2026

Frank Smith believes the next play in the career of Anthony Joshua will be fixed soon.

Speculation has swirled about the heavyweight’s return, with several opportunities, including Jake Paul, Tyson Fury and a bout in Ghana all spoken about.

A Fury fight, it is thought, would come later in 2026.

Joshua has not boxed since his loss to Daniel Dubois in Wembley more than a year ago.

“I think with AJ, he’s had time out the ring, the longest period he’s had out the ring. I think he’s needed it. He hasn't stopped for 12, 13 years since he turned professional,” said Smith, Matchroom’s CEO.

“For him, I think it’s been perfect just to have a bit of time away to focus on himself as he steps back in for what is probably the most important part of his career now and the most important decision he’ll make.”

It was Smith who travelled to Africa to scope out venues for a Joshua fight, and he liked what he saw. 

“There’s been a lot of talk about offers in Ghana. I’ve been out to Ghana to meet with those guys and about putting a show on out there, I went to the stadium in Accra,” Smith added.

“It would be sensational to do an event there, like an event that would never be forgotten. Obviously, there’s the big fights against the likes of Tyson Fury, which we all want to see. “And I think, look, I see that happening. I saw Frank Warren came out talking about it as well. Tyson Fury speaking about a comeback, which is great. So, I think that’s a fight we will see in 2026. What’s next? Let’s see. Let's see how the next week or two goes. I think if he’s going to get out this year, he would have to make a decision very soon, if not early part of next year. But I'm confident we’ll see AJ back in the best form of his life. He needs to be 100 per cent when he goes back into this.”

The idea of staging fights in Accra, having seen it, appeals to Smith now more than ever, and if Matchroom promotes there, it might not just be for Joshua.

“It’s one of those moments. Look, we've been lucky enough, and I’ve been lucky enough personally, to work on some amazing events over the past 16, 17 years, and moments I will never forget. But walking around that stadium and also seeing an event that they’d done previously on a much smaller level, to think of 60,000 people in this stadium, the atmosphere it would create, it’s one of those moments that you think that would last on forever, that memory. It’s not something that a year later you go, ‘do you remember?’ It would be something you talk about for 10, 20, 30, 40 years down the line. So it’s something I'm very interested in making happen. Obviously, it has to make sense, you know, overall. So we shall see. But I’m very confident we’ll be doing events in Ghana with the Legacy team very soon, whether that’s AJ or someone else.”

Smith believes the AJ waters will become much clearer in the next week to 10 days.
With Matchroom set to unveil a cluster of dates to close out the year, more pieces will be fitting into place elsewhere. But Smith doesn’t believe the rematch between Leigh Wood and Josh Warrington is one that will be on the slate.

Despite the two fighters still sniping at one another on social media, a return of their thriller is not immediately likely.

“There’s a lot of big conversations going on for shows next year,” said Smith. 

“I think Leigh Wood’s going to take another fight. We pushed for that fight. There’s obviously the [Michael] Conlan fight could be interesting as well. The Josh Padley fight could be interesting for Josh Warrington as well. Big, big fight in Yorkshire. So, you know, lots of options there, but the plan for Josh is to get back out in January. Leigh Wood, very unlikely now.”

And returning heavyweight Johnny Fisher will be on the Monte Carlo bill on December 6, a five-fight show that Smith said: “I think is the best fight card we’ve ever done there.”