Anthony Joshua has admitted to going through “turbulent times” since losing to Daniel Dubois, while revealing his priority fight for 2025.

In September, Joshua was dropped multiple times en route to a fifth-round loss to Dubois, who retained the IBF heavyweight belt at Wembley.

Talk quickly turned to a rematch, but Dubois has since been paired with Joseph Parker, whom he will face in February. Meanwhile, a long-awaited clash between Joshua and Tyson Fury looks close again, after the latter lost to Oleksandr Usyk in December.

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“2025, I am targeting Tyson Fury,” Joshua said during his meeting with Nigerian president Bola Tinubu, per multiple reports.

Of his loss to Dubois, “AJ” added: “[It] makes me hungry, makes me want to work harder. Time is of the essence, time is limited, so I just want to put in more work.

“When I look back, I believe I could have done more in 2024. I have another chance in 2025 to do more, and I am going to make sure I take every opportunity that comes my way.

“I should have won but I didn’t, and I am going to go again. My life is up and down, so I have to get used to the turbulent times and keep riding the wave. I can’t stop now. I have to keep going until I reach my destination.”

Joshua, 35, started 2024 in fine fashion, brutally knocking out Francis Ngannou in early March. But after beating the ex-UFC champion, Joshua’s fortunes changed, as he was dismantled by fellow Briton Dubois.

As a result, Joshua’s pursuit of a third world-title reign is up in the air. But a dream match with compatriot Fury would not need a title.

In late December, after Fury lost to Usyk on points for the second time in seven months, Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn said AJ wants to fight twice in 2025.

“[The first fight will be] in May or June,” Hearn told iFL TV. “He’s not in full training yet. He’s probably ready to resume training in January.

“At the moment, you’ve got the Dubois fight on 22 February, and you’ve got to see what Fury wants to do. We’re not in a terrible rush. AJ will fight twice in 2025. Once in the summer and once in the winter.

“If we can’t make the Dubois fight and if Fury doesn’t want to fight, then you have to make the decision to fight somebody, or do you wait for those fights?

“I can’t speak on behalf of AJ, for who he’s prepared to fight. But what I know is the focus is Daniel Dubois or Tyson Fury. Of course, Joshua’s done it all. If he gets Fury on his resume, he’s boxed virtually everybody of his era.”

Daniel Dubois is reportedly set to make the second defence of his IBF title against Joseph Parker on February 22 instead of Anthony Joshua.

The heavyweight clash is expected to headline a stacked card in Saudi Arabia, which could include Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol’s rematch for the former’s undisputed light-heavyweight crown following their tight encounter in October.

That is according to esteemed boxing journalist Dan Rafael, who also reports that an IBF welterweight title fight between champion Jaron Ennis and challenger Vergil Ortiz is also in the works for the February bill.

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Ennis recently defended the red and gold strap against Karen Chukhadzhian in a rematch last month and has been calling for the big fights to no avail.

Finally, he will face a worthy challenger in fellow undefeated fighter Ortiz, who comes in fresh off a gruelling majority decision win over Serhii Bohachuk.

Hamzah Sheeraz’s long-awaited shot at middleweight gold could also land on the bill.

Sheeraz, who is ranked highly with all four major sanctioning bodies, has chosen to go down the WBC route first and will face champion Carlos Adames next.

The fifth fight that is being explored for February is an all-action heavyweight dust-up between Agit Kabayel and Zhilei Zhang.

Kabayel is the highest-ranked heavyweight by the IBF and was slated to be Dubois’ next opponent for a time after he pulled out of a final eliminator with Martin Bakole.

Instead, he is being targeted for a fight with Zhang, while Parker is the frontrunner to box Dubois.

‘Triple D’ knocked out Joshua in September to retain his IBF belt and was in talks over an immediate sequel.

However, negotiations have since fallen by the wayside.

As a result, Dubois’ team moved on from the all-British showdown and began talking to other potential foes.

IBF president Daryl Peoples confirmed earlier this month that Dubois ‘can make an optional defence of his world title against any ranked fighter before April 22’.

Parker is not currently ranked by the IBF due to his status as a WBO ‘interim’ champion.

The Kiwi, who previously held the full WBO world title before losing it to Joshua in 2018, could give up the ‘interim’ trinket and receive a ranking from the IBF before February 22 so it is not an insurmountable hurdle to overcome.

Parker called for a fight with Dubois last month when he appeared on talkSPORT Fight Night.

“I have been very vocal about wanting to fight Daniel Dubois,” he said.

“I think he’s done exceptionally well, he done a great job against Anthony Joshua to get that devastating KO.

“He looked great versus Jarrell Miller, Filip Hrgovic and Anthony Joshua. But there’s a difference.

“I’m fresh, I’m hungry and ready to go. I’ve been waiting since March for a big fight, let’s get it on now.

“I feel like they have asked around different opponents to see which one fits, so there are a few hurdles to jump.

“But I feel like it can happen and I want it to happen, but hopefully everyone can come together and make it happen.”

After confirmation that Anthony Joshua will not rematch Daniel Dubois in February due to picking up an injury, his promoter Eddie Hearn has now revealed the specifics of the injury.

Joshua was demolished on September 21st by Dubois in front of a record Wembley crowd.

He was knocked down four times and the fight was stopped in the fifth round.

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Despite failing to join an exclusive club of heavyweights to become three-time champion, it was expected that he would have the opportunity again by rematching his opponent straight away.

However, it was revealed that he was injured and would be unable to be ready for a proposed February date.

Now his promoter Eddie Hearn, speaking to The Stomping Ground, has shed light on why Joshua cannot make this date.

“There’s no major injury. Every fighter has niggles in camp, especially when you’re a heavyweight who trains every day and spars really hard.”

“There’s nothing that’s going to be a long-term problem. For a turnaround after a five or six-week break after a defeat like that, it’s just not possible to be a hundred percent.”

“That’s all. There’s no tear in the bicep, there’s just wear-and-tear that means he cannot go into a training camp with the same intensity that he would want to.”

Eddie Hearn has said that there is no major injury to Joshua, however due to the manor of the defeat, his body needs longer to recover than it normally would.

Moreover, ‘AJ’ is 35 years old, therefore fights are likely to take more out of him than they would have a few years ago.

For Daniel Dubois, this fight solidified his status as IBF heavyweight champion after he previously was granted the title following Oleksandr Uysk being forced to vacate.

The champion is set to return to the ring in the first quarter of 2025, with the likes of Zhilei Zhang, Joseph Parker, and Martin Bakole being mentioned as potential opponents.

For Joshua, he will most likely be ready by the summer when the rematch could take place or we could finally see the greatly anticipated clash against Tyson Fury.