Anthony Joshua urged to skip tune-up fight and go straight to Tyson Fury

Anthony Joshua’s next move may carry more risk outside the ring than inside it. Some observers believe a traditional comeback fight could jeopardize the one heavyweight event fans still want most: Joshua against Tyson Fury.

The debate surfaced during a recent boxing discussion about Joshua’s return to training following a difficult period away from competition. While footage of the former two-time heavyweight champion back in the gym has sparked speculation about his timeline, the bigger question is what type of opponent should come first.

One view is that Joshua should bypass the typical tune-up and move directly into the long-discussed fight with Fury. The reasoning is simple. A comeback bout against a dangerous contender could derail the biggest commercial fight available to both men.

“If you go in with a top-ten fighter who’s hungry and sees the scalp of Anthony Joshua there, he gets that scalp, and then that fight falls away,” one panelist said during the discussion on talkSport Boxing.

The risk calculation centers on Joshua’s position late in his career. At 34, he remains one of the sport’s biggest draws, but the Fury matchup has lingered for years without materializing. A defeat in a comeback fight could effectively remove that event from the table.

Others acknowledge that skipping a warm-up fight would carry its own uncertainty, especially given the circumstances surrounding Joshua’s recent time away from the sport. Trainers often prefer a softer return to competition so fighters can rediscover timing and confidence before stepping back into elite opposition.

Yet the size of the Fury fight continues to shape the conversation. Some believe the event has been delayed long enough that adding another opponent in between may only create more complications.

Joshua himself has not publicly outlined his next step, though recent training footage has fueled speculation that a return could come later this year. If Fury handles his upcoming commitments without incident, the window for finally staging the long-awaited heavyweight showdown could reopen.

That possibility explains why the comeback debate has shifted away from opponents and toward risk management. For Joshua’s team, the decision may come down to a simple question: take a tune-up and gamble with the biggest fight available, or roll the dice and go straight to Fury.