- Hearn confirms Joshua has the Fury contract and is weighing up a July tune-up before the November mega-fight
- Wembley Stadium is the prime target — Dublin's Croke Park ruled out as too risky for an outdoor November date
- Wilder floated as a potential July tune-up, but a safer option is more likely to protect the biggest payday of Joshua's career
Hearn Finally Puts Numbers On It
Right then, let's not beat around the bush. Eddie Hearn has spoken, and this time we've got dates. Anthony Joshua will take a tune-up fight in July before squaring up against Tyson Fury in November — almost certainly at Wembley Stadium. Hearn confirmed AJ has the contract for the Fury fight and is simply waiting to sign the piece of paper. Make no mistake, this is the closest Joshua vs Fury has ever been to actually happening.
Fury flattened Arslanbek Makhmudov at Tottenham five days ago and screamed at Joshua ringside. The infrastructure was already in place — Zuffa, Netflix, Sauerland — but what was missing was a concrete timeline. Now we have one. July tune-up. November mega-fight. Wembley. Proper.
Why the July Tune-Up Makes Sense
Some fans will moan about the tune-up. I get it. Joshua vs Fury should happen now, while the momentum is rolling. But let's be honest about Joshua's situation. He hasn't fought properly since the Jake Paul disaster. Ring rust is real, and Fury is coming off the best performance of his comeback. AJ needs a competitive night to shake out the cobwebs without risking the November payday.
Who does he fight? Hearn has floated Deontay Wilder, which would be mental. Picture it: Joshua versus Wilder in July as a warm-up, then Fury in November. Back-to-back against the two biggest names in modern heavyweight boxing. That's a proper year. Realistically though, it'll probably be a lesser name — someone at Makhmudov's level, a stern test without the risk of derailing everything. Jared Anderson? Pero? Miller? Someone in that tier.
Wembley in November — If It Actually Holds
Croke Park in Dublin had been floated earlier, but Hearn has binned that — an outdoor November date in Ireland is a non-starter. Wembley is the play. 90,000 fans. British heavyweight history. This is the fight boxing has wanted since 2017 and it's finally locked onto a stadium and a month.
Fury's team wanted this year-end, and November delivers that. Joshua's team wanted the tune-up, and July delivers that. Everyone gets what they want, which is rare enough in boxing to be worth celebrating. The last piece is the signed contract from AJ's side. Hearn said it himself — it's with Joshua now. Until the ink hits the paper, I'll keep my champagne on ice. This fight has fallen apart more times than I can count.
The Stakes — Let's Not Pretend Otherwise
Levels matter here. Fury has just shown he's still at the top of the division. Joshua, if he can get past his tune-up, walks into the biggest fight of his life against a live, active, fully switched-on Tyson Fury. My prediction? Fury wins. He's the better boxer, the sharper operator, and he's got the momentum. Joshua's power is always a threat — one right hand can change everything — but Fury's reach, his footwork, and his unorthodox angles are a nightmare for AJ's straight-line boxing. Fury by late stoppage or wide decision.
But I'll tell you what: if Joshua catches him, we're looking at a potential rematch in 2027 and the biggest domestic boxing story of the decade. The infrastructure is built. The dates are set. The stadium is lined up. This fight has been announced a hundred times. This time, genuinely, it looks like it's going to happen.
If you know, you know — Joshua versus Fury has defined British heavyweight conversation for years. November is the end point. Let's hope Joshua signs.