Turki Alalshikh targets new opponent for Anthony Joshua after Fury retiremement

Anthony Joshua could now be on a collision course to finally face Deontay Wilder following the surprise retirement of Tyson Fury.

Joshua is plotting his return to the ring later this year after suffering the fourth loss of his career in devastating fashion against Daniel Dubois last September.

AJ appeared to be finally set to face fellow British heavyweight and long-time rival Fury after his second successive defeat to Oleksandr Usyk late last year.

However, those plans now appear up in the air after the Gypsy King announced his shock retirement from the sport earlier this week.

While Fury has walked back retirement announcements in the past, Saudi Arabia’s boxing kingpin Turki Alalshikh is already looking at new opponents for Joshua’s return.

Speaking to talkSPORT on Thursday about potential new opponents for AJ, he said: ‘I want to see Joshua and [Deontay] Wilder now. If Tyson is not available, why not Joshua and Wilder?’

Despite both holding heavyweight titles for significant periods, a fight between Joshua and Wilder never materialised while both were in their prime.

The pair finally looked set to meet last year but Wilder’s surprise defeat to Joshua Parker saw those plans scuppered, with Joshua eventually facing off against former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou instead.

Wilder has fought once since that defeat, losing to Chinese fighter Zhilei Zhang via TKO in June last year.

Speaking earlier in the week, Eddie Hearn also namechecked Wilder as a possible next fight for Joshua when he likely returns in May or June.

‘Our two preferred options are Tyson Fury and the winner of [Daniel] Dubois against [Joseph] Parker [on February 22]. But, if Tyson Fury never fights again, and we don’t get the winner of Dubois-Parker, AJ is still going to fight,’ Hearn told Matchroom Boxing.

‘[Martin] Bakole got his back up the other day, a little bit with the call out. There could potentially be a big fight in Africa, I think that’s an unlikely fight.

‘Deontay Wilder is a fight, I think coming off the defeat people would still love to see, if Wilder comes back with a win, looks like he’s scheduled to fight again in February.

‘Dillian Whyte, I don’t know. These are just names I’m plucking out, because AJ will fight.’

Alalshikh, meanwhile, was hopeful that he could eventually coax Fury out of retirement for one more big fight.

‘I will support him and discuss it with him. I will leave him for some time to be with his family, then we can discuss it,’ he said.

‘Of course, As a fan of boxing, I don’t like it (Fury’s retirement) beacuse we want to see Tyson in more big fights, but I can understand his decision.

‘But over time this decision can change.’

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