Anthony Joshua has ‘two fights, three fights max’ left before retirement, according to promoter Eddie Hearn.

Matchroom chief Hearn spoke passionately about his long-time client during an interview with talkSPORT on Thursday.

Joshua, 35, won the first 22 fights of his professional career, before losing his WBA, IBF and WBO heavyweight titles in a shock defeat by Andy Ruiz Junior in January 2019.

Joshua won four fights against relatively easier opposition between his rematch defeat by Usyk and last year’s loss to Dubois. 

However, Hearn has made it clear that AJ wants to take on the biggest and best in the heavyweight division before hanging up his gloves. 

Matchroom chief Eddie Hearn (pictured) spoke passionately about Anthony Joshua this week

Hearn and Matchroom have promoted all of Joshua’s professional fights since his first in 2013

‘The plan and the goal for Anthony Joshua, always, from now to the moment he retires, is to try and win the World Heavyweight Championship,’ Hearn explained. ‘To try and become a three-time World Heavyweight Champion.

‘So, of course, the other fight, which we know at the moment is not available, is Tyson Fury, he wanted that fight. But, if you said to AJ, “what do you want to do most next?” He would say, “I want to fight the winner of Dubois/Parker. I want another shot at a World Heavyweight title.”

‘That’s a natural thing. You know, you’ve got [Martin] Bakole, you’ve got [Deontay] Wilder, you’ve got the winner of [Agit] Kabayel against [Zhilei] Zhang. They’re all possible fights, but, you know, you keep hearing about, “oh, AJ won’t fight this guy, won’t fight that guy.” Come on, look at his resume.

‘Like, when he boxed Oleksandr Usyk, he gave Usyk the shot at the World Heavyweight Championship. And everyone said to me, “oh, don’t fight Usyk, don’t fight Usyk.” It’s never my say. AJ wants to fight the best, he wants to challenge himself, and he wants to try and become undisputed, so he had to take care of his mandatory.

‘He gave Usyk the shot at the kingdom. And he beat AJ, and then everyone went, “whatever you do, don’t rematch Usyk.” And he rematched Usyk. You know, when he got stopped by Andy Ruiz, everyone went, “whoa, his confidence is shot to pieces, do not go straight back in with Andy Ruiz.” He went straight back in with Andy Ruiz.

‘There’s no doubt in AJ’s mind about who he’s fighting, and he will step back in the ring with Dubois at any moment, because he wants the gold, and we’ve probably only got another year left. Two fights, three fights max.

‘So at this stage, it’s not like, “oh, how do we have a couple of easy fights to end a career?” It’s like, excuse my French, I won’t say the word, but it’s like [s***] or bust.

‘You know? It’s like, we’ve got nothing to preserve, we’ve got nothing to worry about, we’ve got nothing to hold on to. We’ve got nothing, other than the biggest draw in the division.’

Joshua has won 28 of his 32 pro fights, but he was knocked out by Daniel Dubois last year

The potential fight that would generate the most interest among British fans is undoubtably Joshua vs Fury.

But Fury announced his retirement last month with immediate effect on the heels of his second defeat by Usyk in December of last year. 

‘Hi everybody, I’m going to make this short and sweet,’ Fury said in a clip he shared to social media.

 ‘I’d like to announce my retirement from boxing. It’s been a blast, I’ve loved every single minute of it. 

‘I’m going to end with this… Dick Turpin wore a mask. God bless everybody, see you on the other side. Get up!’ 

January’s video marked the fifth time that Fury has retired from boxing, with four returns to competition so far. 

So for fans hopeful of the all-British clash the two fighters have been discussing for a number of years, there may yet be light at the end of the tunnel.

Indeed, it has been rumoured that Fury is considering coming out of retirement in order to finally fight Joshua.