LONDON, England - Eddie Hearn has invited an offer from Nigerian promoter Dr Ezekiel Adamu but has revealed that Ghana are currently leading the chase to land Anthony Joshua’s first ever fight in Africa.

It is now a year since two-time world heavyweight champion AJ last boxed, when he was knocked out in the fifth round of his dramatic Wembley Stadium showdown with Daniel Dubois.

It is now increasingly unlikely that the 35-year-old will box before the end of 2025 but his promoter Eddie Hearn says Joshua will ‘definitely’ return at some point in Q1 of 2026.

As Hearn told The Ring earlier this month, Joshua will come back against a ‘top-20’ opponent but it is still very unclear where that fight will take place with a number of territories keen on landing a big site deal for the 2012 Olympic champion.

As revealed during an interview with The Ring, the CEO of Balmoral Group Promotions Adamu believes they are capable of tempting Joshua back to Nigeria and have the support of the country’s government in their pursuit.

But Hearn says they are still yet to open talks with Adamu about the possibility and says Nigeria's west African rivals Ghana are ahead of them in the queue after presenting a ‘very interesting offer’.

When asked about Adamu’s plans to build a show around Joshua early next year, Hearn said: “Well, I haven’t had a conversation with him. I’m sure he will have spoken to someone who knows AJ but nothing with me.

“If they want to make an offer then we are open to that and my number is quite easy to get hold of.

“But as it stands we have had no conversation with Nigeria but what we have had is a site visit in Accra, Ghana and they have made an offer. We are very interested in going there in the early part of 2026.

“I think it would be incredible but we are open to Nigeria as well."

But Hearn warned both Nigeria and Ghana that it is not a straight race between them, as they have also received offers from two other territories about a Joshua fight. There is also every chance that his comeback fight takes place on British soil, too.

Joshua has boxed four times in Saudi Arabia over the past six years while he has been regularly linked with a huge clash with Chinese southpaw Zhilei Zhang at Beijing’s Bird’s Nest stadium.

Hearn added: “Ghana is currently only one of three sites that have made offers. We may even fight in the UK.

"Obviously we have opportunities to fight in the middle east and the far east as well.

“But Joshua will definitely fight in Q1 of 2026.”