Anthony Joshua has revealed the likely date of his next fight, as well as how his opponent will be determined.
Joshua recently said his next fight is set to take place at London’s Wembley Stadium in September, as the former heavyweight champion looks to build on his March knockout of Francis Ngannou.
With Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk tied up by a two-fight deal – with their first clash scheduled for 18 May in Riyadh – “AJ” is in need of an opponent, and he has now provided an update on the matchmaking for that bout, as well as two possible dates.
The Briton told Talksport on Saturday (27 April) that he will be paired with whichever heavyweight impresses most on 1 June, when Deontay Wilder vs Zhilei Zhang and Daniel Dubois vs Filip Hrgovic play out in Riyadh.
“It’s gonna be in London, Wembley Stadium,” said Joshua, 34. “This is what I’m being told. If that’s what [the Saudis] say, they normally back their word, so let’s go with that: Wembley, 20 or 21 September.
“On 1 June in Saudi Arabia, they’ve got the 5 vs 5 card,” Joshua continued, referencing the undercard of Artur Beterbiev vs Dmitry Bivol, when five of Eddie Hearn’s boxers will fight five of Frank Warren’s. “You’ve got Filip Hrgovic vs Daniel Dubois, and you’ve got Zhilei Zhang vs Deontay Wilder. So, providing one of those looks good… the one who looks the best, His Excellency Turki Al-Sheikh said to me: ‘I want you to fight [him].’
“What he says is: ‘In the future, I want people to look back at your record and say that you took on the best.’ I said: ‘Now you’re speaking my language.’ So, out of that pool, I believe that’s who I’m gonna be fighting – one of those.
“We’re on the same page, and he’s on the same page as the fans as well. He’s trying to deliver what the fans want; I know they want that big fight with Tyson Fury, and he’s working on it.”
Heavyweight title holders Fury and Usyk will fight each other on 18 May, to crown the division’s first undisputed champion in 24 years. They are also contracted for a rematch at an as-yet-unknown date.
Al-Sheikh is the Saudi adviser who is spearheading the Gulf state’s ongoing boxing endeavours. This week, the first Saudi-staged boxing event to take place abroad was announced, with Terence Crawford headlining that card in Los Angeles in August. The event at Wembley is set to be the next Saudi-backed card to take place overseas.
