What next for Anthony Joshua?

Anthony Joshua made it three wins in a row with a comfortable, and dominant win over Otto Wallin before Christmas 2023, and the Englishman will be looking to go from strength to strength during 2024, having finished 2023 unbeaten after wins over Wallin, Robert Helenius, and Jermaine Franklin Jr.

However, there will be some questions on Joshua’s dominance in the heavyweight division, especially when he’s been beaten by Oleksandr Usyk on two occasions, with his most recent defeat to the Ukrainian coming via a split decision in Saudi Arabia back in August 2022. It’ll be interesting to see which fighter Joshua comes up against next, as he looks to stamp his authority back on the heavyweight division, although any potential third fight against Usyk looks some way off given the difference in quality between the two fighters at this moment in time.

With expert opinions from mybettingsites.co.uk, we’ll take you through three potential opponents that Joshua could come up against in early 2024.

Zhilei Zheng

Zheng seems one of the most obvious fights for Joshua to take up in the near future, with the Chinese star catching the eye for all the right reasons in recent months. Zheng has only been beaten once, which came against Filip Hrgovic via unanimous decision, but he’s impressed in the rest of his fights.

The 40-year-old has beaten Joe Joyce on two occasions, and with his most recent win over the Englishman coming via knockout, Zheng will fancy his chances of causing Joshua some problems when at his best. Joshua has struggled against hard-hitting opponents in the past, and it would be interesting to see how he’d cope against Zheng.

Francis Ngannou

The 37-year-old was given next to no chance to beat Tyson Fury in his first ever professional boxing match. However, Ngannou didn’t let the hefty odds affect his performance on the night, as he was narrowly beaten by Fury.

Ngannou sent Fury tumbling to the canvas midway through the fight, and many thought that he’d done enough to beat the Gypsy King. Fury has only ever been beaten once in his career, and so it’s a credit to Nagnnou to cause Fury problems. With the Gypsy King being one of the main fighters to beat in the heavyweight division, Ngannou could trouble plenty of other fighters, including Joshua. However, it wouldn’t come as a surprise to see Joshua avoid a fight with Ngannou, as a defeat could all but end his chances of a major heavyweight fight later down the line.

Filip Hrgovic

Hrgovic is the mandatory challenger for the IBF title, and has 17 wins from 17 fights so far in his professional career. The Croatian saw off the challenge of Mark De Mori in December with a TKO win, and he could be a real test for Joshua when at this best.

The 31-year-old is a younger option for Joshua to fight than Zheng, and with Hrgovic inflicting Zheng’s only defeat of his career, he’s a fighter with real quality. With an orthodox stance, Hrgovic’s power could trouble Joshua, although if the Englishman gets on the front foot, he could potentially struggle.