Anthony Joshua faces off with ex-champ who survived assassination attempt as Eddie Hearn opens up on new two-fight deal

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ANTHONY JOSHUA faced off with forgotten heavyweight Mahmoud Charr – as Eddie Hearn confirmed plans for a two-fight deal.

AJ has been out of action since a knockout loss to Daniel Dubois in September while an elbow injury – which needed surgery – has sidelined him.

But promoter Hearn revealed talks with Saudi boxing supremo Turki Alalshikh and Riyadh Season for a pair of bouts are underway.

He told BoxingScene: “We are actually discussing a two-fight deal with Riyadh Season.

“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.”

Dubois, 27, now rematches Oleksandr Usyk, 38, on July 19 at Wembley two years after his stoppage loss to the Ukrainian.

Usyk is coming off two wins over Tyson Fury, 36, last year which led to the Gypsy King’s surprise retirement in January.

Hearn still hopes Fury will return to face Joshua, 35, while London’s undisputed title clash will also factor into their next move.

He said: “We’ll see what happens with Dubois-Usyk. We’ll see what happens with Fury.

“If we don’t fight those guys, maybe we’ll fight one of those guys next year.”

Another name hoping to put himself in the mix to fight Joshua is Lebanon-born German Charr – who changed his name from Manuel to Mahmoud.

Charr long held the WBA’s secondary heavyweight title but lost it to Kubrat Pulev in December – not returning since.

He now resides in Dubai where AJ was recently on holiday before also travelling to Oman on a visit.

Charr went face-to-face in a tense stare down with Joshua and said: “There’s only one giant in Syria.”

The 40-year-old has a 34–5 record, notably losing to Vitali Klitschko in 2012.

But his career – and life – was almost ended in 2015 when he was targeted in a drive-by shooting in a kebab shop in Essen.

He miraculously survived and lived to see his shooter, Youssef Hassan, sentenced to five years in prison after also undergoing two hip operations.

Charr was astonishingly back in the ring just nine months later – to cap off a truly incredible comeback.

He was 32 bouts into his career when his life was almost taken from him, following a cowardly assault from a Facebook troll.

The attacker had been provoking the fighter online, posing videos of his losses on social media.

But when Charr offered to face the man behind the screen in person, he was subject to an assassination attempt.

Charr had two tune-ups fights afterwards but later needed a double replacement, undergoing surgery in 2017 at the age of just 32.

He told SunSport in 2022: “I am not afraid of anyone. Fear is a feeling and feelings can be controlled. Fear exists only in your mind.”

Charr was shot four times in 2015[/caption]

He returned to boxing after surviving the shooting[/caption]

Youssef Hassan was given five years in prison for shooting Charr[/caption]