Anthony Joshua came face-to-face with former heavyweight champion Mahmoud Charr in a tense stare-down as promoter Eddie Hearn confirmed plans for a two-fight deal to stage the Briton’s comeback.
The 35-year-old former world champion has been out of action since his knockout loss to Daniel Dubois in September, with an elbow injury that required surgery further sidelining him from the ring.
However, Hearn revealed that talks with Saudi boxing supremo Turki Alalshikh and Riyadh Season for a pair of bouts are underway as Joshua plots his return.
“We are actually discussing a two-fight deal with Riyadh Season,” Hearn told BoxingScene.
“We’ve been doing that, (Turki Alalshikh) said that on the night of Canelo-Scull, when we had our meeting, and that’s the plan really. We want to box sometime this year, October, November, December.”
Lebanon-born German Charr, who changed his name from Manuel to Mahmoud, is hoping to put himself in the mix to fight Joshua after their recent encounter in Dubai, where the British heavyweight was holidaying before travelling to Oman.
During their face-off, the 40-year-old Charr declared, “There’s only one giant in Syria.”
Charr, who holds a 34-5 record, long held the WBA’s secondary heavyweight title but lost it to Kubrat Pulev in December and has not returned to the ring since.
The fighter’s career and life were almost ended in 2015 when he was targeted in a drive-by shooting at a kebab shop in Essen.
The attack stemmed from an online feud with a Facebook troll who had been provoking Charr by posting videos of his losses on social media.
When Charr offered to face the man behind the screen in person, he was subjected to an assassination attempt that miraculously he survived. His shooter, Youssef Hassan, was later sentenced to five years in prison.
Charr underwent two hip operations following the incident but was astonishingly back in the ring just nine months later, capping off an incredible comeback.
However, he later needed a double hip replacement, undergoing surgery in 2017 at the age of 32.
Meanwhile, Hearn confirmed that Joshua’s camp is monitoring the heavyweight landscape, particularly the upcoming rematch between Dubois and Oleksandr Usyk on July 19 at Wembley, two years after Dubois’s stoppage loss to the Ukrainian.
“We’ll see what happens with Dubois-Usyk. We’ll see what happens with Fury,” Hearn said.
“If we don’t fight those guys, maybe we’ll fight one of those guys next year.”
