Anthony Joshua Undergoes Surgery Before Returning To The Ring

JAKARTA The former world heavyweight champion twice from England, Anthony Joshua (AJ), will undergo elbow surgery this month before preparing to return to the boxing ring.

AJ has not acted again since suffering a knockout defeat (KO) in the fifth round against Daniel Dubois for the IBF belt at Wembley Stadium, London, England in September 2024.

"I had to undergo minor surgery on my elbows, minor surgery, possibly this May," Joshua was quoted as saying by BBC Sport.

The 35-year-old fighter confirmed he needed a break after the previous operation returned to action later.

"The operation means I have to be out of the fitness center for six to eight weeks. Then, once I recover, I will come back," he said.

Joshua, who has won 28 of his 32 fights, was on the edge of the ring in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, last weekend to watch Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez beat William Scull.

Promoter Eddie Hearn previously said in April 2025 that he still believes the fight between Joshua and fellow two-time world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury can still happen.

Hearn said that the two names only needed to send messages to each other on social media to agree on their duel even though Fury had announced his retirement from boxing in January 2025.

Joshua won the super Olympic heavyweight gold medal in London 2012 before winning his first world title in 2016.

He then brought together the world heavyweight titles WBA, IBF, and WBO in 2018 and took them back from Andy Ruiz Jr in 2019.

However, he then gave up against Oleksandr Usyk in 2021. Usyk then became the undisputed world heavyweight champion by defeating Fury.