Anthony Joshua offered two-fight deal including Tyson Fury but not Deontay Wilder

Anthony Joshua is set to return to the ring in July as part of a two-fight deal with Turki Alalshikh’s Riyadh Season.

The Watford powerhouse hasn’t stepped between the ropes since December, when he knocked out an overmatched Jake Paul in a Netflix crossover clash that was watched by 33 million households.

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Days later, Joshua was involved in a tragic car crash in Nigeria that killed two of his close friends and teammates, Sina Ghami and Latif “Latz” Ayodele.

He has since returned to training and was in attendance to watch long-time rival Tyson Fury win his comeback fight against Arslanbek Makhmudov on Saturday night.

In the immediate aftermath, Fury called for Joshua to finally lock horns with him in a fight that has been almost a decade in the making.

But while Joshua’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, insists the British heavyweight titans will meet this year, he confirmed that Joshua will have a warm-up fight beforehand.

The most obvious option for his next dance partner appeared to be Deontay Wilder, who also called out Joshua after his recent win over Derek Chisora.

Wilder’s performance left a lot to be desired, with ‘The Bronze Bomber’ looking like a shadow of his former self.

However, the matchup has seemingly been deemed too risky by the Saudis, who are keen to avoid a potential banana skin getting in the way of Joshua vs Fury.

“The deal that we have been offered to fight in July and then fight Tyson Fury in November is not with Deontay Wilder in mind,” Hearn told talkSPORT’s Adam Smith and Spencer Oliver.

“The powers that be don’t really want us to be in that type of fight.

“AJ has also told me that he will fight Wilder and Fury back-to-back.

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“This is an offer that has been made by Turki Alalshikh, Ring and Riyadh Season, wherever that fight could be in July and then fight Tyson Fury.

“That is the deal that has been proposed to us at the moment, and that looks like the route that we will take.

“If we [Matchroom] were promoting the event, I would be going Deontay Wilder, Tyson Fury.

“But this is a deal that has been put to us with the Fury fight as the mountain top.

“There will be a lot of people who won’t want to go into a fight that they feel is risky and put that fight in jeopardy.

“We have no problem fighting Wilder, but I don’t think it will be Wilder under the basis of this deal.”

Boxing schedule

For all the upcoming fights and results this year, check out talkSPORT.com’s  boxing schedule.