;Anthony Joshua: Eddie Hearn denies Deontay Wilder or Martin Bakole fights agreed

Joshua’s return to the summit of the heavyweight scene was halted by Dubois at Wembley last September as he suffered the fourth defeat of his career and second via stoppage.

He was expected to fight Dubois again, but opted out of talks for a rematch and Dubois will face Joseph Parker on 22 February instead.

Before Tyson Fury’s shock retirement announcement last month, anticipation had been building the Gypsy King might face Joshua.

But while that fight seems unlikely again, Hearn says Fury remains at the top of Joshua’s wishlist.

“It’s always been the two – Tyson Fury – who is retired at the moment, we’ll see how long that lasts, and the winner of Dubois-Parker,” Hearn said of Joshua’s ideal next opponent.

Joshua has history with both Dubois and Parker having stripped Parker of his WBO title in their 2018 unification fight.

Hearn is not confident Dubois will retain his IBF title, with Parker on a five-fight winning streak, including wins over Wilder and Zhilei Zhang.

“The first four, five rounds of that fight will be so important,” Hearn said of Dubois-Parker.

“If Parker can get through those rounds, you’ve got to put question marks back in Dubois’ head because right now I think he thinks he’s invincible.

“He’s buying into the hype. Which might be good for him. Dubois is a handful.

“I think he’s beatable and I think Parker is the guy to do it. Right now, a confident Daniel Dubois is a dangerous man.”