Anthony Joshua may not get back into the ring until March 2023, according to Eddie Hearn.
The Matchroom promoter was talking to IFL TV about the plans of his heavyweight fighter after a bout with Tyson Fury fell through.
Hearn was sceptical when the WBC champion offered up a December date for a clash that had originally been planned for August last year.
Instead, Joshua lost to Oleksandr Usyk in 2021, and was defeated in the rematch earlier this year. Fury defeated Deontay Wilder in a trilogy rematch, beat Dillian Whyte in a mandatory defence, retired, and then finally chose Derek Chisora for his December bout.
Fury goes hot and cold on an eventual fight with Joshua, but the former three-belt champion remains keen when asked.
While Joshua had hoped to get back in the ring before the end of the year, a lack of announcement means that next year is a more likely date for his comeback.
“When you miss an opportunity like Fury, then your mojo goes a little bit, then you get to November and you’re like: ‘I’m probably not going to fight in December’,” Hearn told IFL TV.
“Then it’s like ‘I’ve got Christmas and I’m not going to fight in January’ and then February’s there and before you know it you’re looking at March.
“[Joshua’s] stayed out in the Middle East, he’s having a holiday and then he’s going to go back into camp. The plan for us is the middle/end of March really.
“Then you get comments like ‘why’s he going to March?’ Just because he wanted a couple more weeks holiday, really. He’s still focused, still hungry.”