Anthony Joshua says he will undergo an elbow operation this month before making a return to the ring.
The double world heavyweight champion has not been absent since he suffered a fifth devastating round Ko against Daniel Dubois in Wembley in September.
Joshua, 35, said he “tried to make the right body” before making a return.
“I have to undergo a small surgery on my elbow, a small surgical intervention in May,” Joshua told Dazn diffuser.
He added: “It will see me get out of the gymnasium for perhaps six to eight weeks and then, as soon as I am healing, I will be back.”
Joshua, who won 28 of his 32 fights, was at the edge of the ring in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Saturday to watch Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez to defeat William Scull on the points.
Promoter Eddie Hearn said in April that he was entrusting a fight between Joshua and his other double world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury could still happen.
Hearn said that everything you need was a direct message on social networks between fighters – despite Fury's announcement in January that he had retired from boxing.
Joshua won gold from Olympic heavyweights in London 2012 before winning his first world title in 2016.
The Briton united the world heavyweights of WBA, IBF and WBO in 2018 and recovered them from Andy Ruiz Jr in 2019, before being dethroned by Oleksandr Usyk in 2021.
