Anthony Joshua, the former two-time world heavyweight champion, has announced he will undergo elbow surgery this month as he plans his return to the ring in the latter half of this year.
Joshua, 35, has not fought since he was knocked out in the fifth round by Daniel Dubois at Wembley Stadium in September. The British heavyweight told broadcaster DAZN that the operation will take place in May, ruling him out for between one and two months.
“I’m going to perform a little operation on my elbow, a little work, sometime in May,” Joshua said. “That’ll probably put me out of the gym for six to eight weeks and then as soon as I’m fit, I’ll be back.
The Olympic gold medallist was ringside in Riyadh on Saturday night to watch Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez beat William Scull in a super middleweight unification match.
Joshua, who has now racked up 28 victories from 32 fights, is still being tipped for a future all-British fight with Tyson Fury. The pair could still be made, promoter Eddie Hearn recently said in the wake of Fury’s previous claims he would retire.
Joshua is the former unified WBA, IBF, and WBO titles holder who lost to Oleksandr Usyk in 2021.