Verhoeven Among Options: Joshua Could Return to the Ring in February

The head of Matchroom Boxing, Eddie Hearn, spoke about when former unified world champion Anthony Joshua might return to the ring.

“So, we are obviously moving forward with our plan together with His Excellency. It would be a fight in February or March, and then, hopefully, a fight with Tyson Fury. I plan to meet with His Excellency when I arrive in Saudi Arabia later this week. February 14th is, you know, a proposed date. My gut feeling—and we will still talk to the doctors and the team over the next 48 hours—is that this Saturday marks 7 weeks.

Obviously, we just finished a fight, and some people say: ‘Well, you know, it was an easy fight for him.’ But AJ Anthony Joshua just spent eight or nine weeks in camp, right? He’s going to go home and see his family for Christmas. So there’s a chance we might try to move it to mid or late March.

Rico [Verhoeven] is a fight that certain people have mentioned. We are keeping an open mind. Ultimately, we will consider the offers. A fight that prepares us for Tyson Fury would suit us. That’s quite difficult to do from a stylistic point of view. So we might consider other opponents as well, but for now, we are open.

We are in a great position. Obviously, we will talk to DAZN, because they were one of the main reasons why this fight (against Jake, – ed.) happened. Without their blessing, we would never have gotten it done. So, AJ remains their exclusive partner, and we will discuss the plan. But, you know, unfortunately—well, not unfortunately for AJ, because he’s in a great position—these conversations will start quite quickly. And that’s always hard, because a fighter usually just wants to relax for a week or two. But we are at peak activity now. Offers are coming from everywhere, and we have to conduct business,” Hearn said.

Jake Paul (12-2, 7 KOs) was knocked out by Anthony Joshua (29-4, 26 KOs) in the 6th round of the bout. Subsequently, the American underwent surgery on his jaw, which was broken in two places.

Rico Verhoeven is a former champion of the largest kickboxing promotion, Glory. He held the heavyweight title for years and recently announced his retirement from K-1.