Joshua to fight Aussie heavyweight McKean in April
It's been more than two years since Joshua last won a fight
Nigeria-born boxing superstar Anthony Joshua will reportedly take on unbeaten Australian heavyweight Demsey McKean, as the former world champion looks to get his career back on track.
It's been more than two years since Joshua last won a fight, with back-to-back defeats to Oleksandr Usyk, and it's being reported that the 33-year-old will step back into the ring in April against 'The Tower of Terror' McKean.
British fight expert Adam Catterall made the claim on Tuesday while discussing Joshua on the Fight Disciples podcast with Nick Peet.
'I'm told he's [Anthony Joshua] going to be fighting Demsey McKean - the Australian kid,' said Catterall.
'Is that April?' asked Peet.
'Yeah, this is his comeback fight. Demsey McKean will be Anthony Joshua's comeback fight,' confirmed Catterall.
Journalist Gareth A. Davies echoed Catterall's comments on TalkSport's Fight Night boxing podcast.
'I think he'll fight Demsey McKean, the undefeated Australian who's ranked 10 with the WBO and I think 11 with the IBF,' Davies said.
That will be a two or three-round knockout win for Anthony Joshua, probably at the O2 Arena, you won't be able to get a seat.
The Aussie southpaw, who is currently unbeaten at 22-0 with 14 knockouts and a win over UFC star Tai Tuivasa, called for a fight against Joshua after he won the IBF Intercontinental heavyweight belt last October.
'I think I did [enough to warrant a fight with a top name next]. It was an early knockout as well, and I'm going to have to hold Eddie [Hearn] to that, I think he said the Gabba against AJ,' said McKean.
'Obviously, that would be my first preference but any of those top-level guys that he mentioned.'
Eddie Hearn, who promotes both McKean and Joshua, believes the bout makes sense.
'He's 22-0, he's top 10 in the world, what more have you got to do?' said Hearn.
'He's yet to fight one of those elite guys but that's what happens, you build your record, you learn in the game, you build yourself up the rankings and then you fight one of the elite guys, that's the natural step next.'
Over the weekend, McKean confirmed via social media that he is in talks with Hearn about the bout and that he'd prefer it to be at The Gabba stadium in Brisbane.
However, Hearn has told McKean that he'd have to beat a 'reputable name' first to land a big stadium fight.
Joshua had perhaps a career-best performance against Pulev in December 2020, and despite recent loses to Usyk he remains a threat to just about anyone in the division.
The Olympic gold medallist is currently looking for a new coach, having left both Rob McCracken and more recently, Robert Garcia.
Earlier this week Joshua's fellow UK heavyweight Joy Joyce claimed the Englishman 'changed' as a fighter after his devastating knockout loss to Andy Ruiz in 2019 and now prefers to fight off the back foot and stay out of trouble instead of looking for knockouts.
