Anthony Joshua’s preferred next fight option over Tyson Fury named after Jake Paul win

Eddie Hearn has shared that Anthony Joshua would prefer to fight Fabio Wardley next.

Joshua returned to winning ways when he knocked out Jake Paul in the sixth round of their controversial heavyweight contest on December 19.

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Having just come back from 15 months on the sidelines, AJ is reported to be fighting once more before a long-awaited showdown with Tyson Fury in 2026.

As speculation grows over who his next opponent will be, it certainly needs to be a credible heavyweight if he is looking to reassert his dominance.

With that in mind, his promoter, Hearn, has stated that Joshua would favour a match-up with the current WBO heavyweight champion Wardley.

He told Boxing Social: “That’s the world heavyweight title. That’s actually AJ’s preference over Tyson Fury.

“AJ would love to win the world heavyweight title again.”

And the Matchroom Boxing kingpin even suggested AJ would be open to taking both.

Hearn added: “If they offer us the Fabio Wardley fight and then the Tyson Fury fight, AJ, I think, would have absolutely no problems taking that ASAP.

“But the size of the Fury fight, that’s what’s interesting to people and His Excellency.

“I don’t think His Excellency is going to come and offer us that fight [Wardley].

“If so, we can fight for the world heavyweight championship, absolutely.

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“But I think [Turki Alalshikh] is going to say this is the guy we want for February or March, or whenever it will be, and then you fight Tyson Fury.”

That being said, Fury is also said to be having a separate fight ahead of headlining the speculated Riyadh Season event with Joshua.

Which means that theoretically, either man could take on Wardley in the meantime.

Especially as Fury also surprisingly named Wardley on the hit-list for his pending return.

What has Fabio Wardley said about fighting Anthony Joshua?

When the Ipswich native was asked about meeting Joshua in the ring, he confirmed he was open to making his first title defence against his compatriot.

Wardley told Sky Sports: “It would be a fight I’d take and I’d happily welcome.

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“Even though I’m obviously at the top now, I still want to face the best guys out there in the division, whether that’s AJ, Usyk, whoever it may be.

“I just want to be in big, competitive fights. I’m happy to take on all comers, in that aspect.

“I want to be in there with some of the best in the world, and he [Joshua] is undoubtedly one of those guys, one of those names.”