If Anthony Joshua decides to return to the ring later this year, his comeback fight may have been orchestrated by Hollywood royalty.

The two-time unified heavyweight champion is currently recovering from a car crash in which two of his close friends passed away, and is not focused on boxing. His uncle recently claimed that he is going to retire from the sport, with his last fight coming in December against Jake Paul.

However, if he decides he does want to get back in the ring it seems that kickboxing legend Rico Verhoeven could be the opponent. And should that happen, Joshua would have Jason Statham to thank for the booking.

Jason Statham helped to kickstart Rico Verhoeven and Anthony Joshua fight talks

On tonight’s episode of the Ariel Helwani show, the famed reporter told of how Verhoeven came to become a potential opponent for Anthony Joshua. Reportedly, it was Hollywood actor Jason Statham who came up with the idea while watching a fight with Turki Alalshikh.

“My understanding is that during Benn-Eubank 2, Turki Alalshikh did an interview about what’s next for AJ and he was sitting next to Jason Statham the actor,” Helwani said. “And he mentioned, if you recall, if anyone saw the broadcast that ‘we have plans for him’.

“He referenced the [Tyson] Fury fight, insinuated that there would be a Fury fight and said ‘the next one, if you don’t like it blame this guy’. He was talking about Jason Statham in a joking way, of course, and that idea was the Rico fight.

“The way it was told to me was that Jason Statham saw the talk of Rico vs Francis Ngannou, if you recall from which program that talk emanated [it was Helwani’s show]… Anyway, that didn’t come to fruition and once that ball started to get rolling attention was turned to Rico vs AJ.

“I have to admit, I was fascinated by it because I know Rico did one MMA fight and has primarily been a kickboxer. I was fascinated by Rico in boxing and maybe going for a bit of a run.”