Anthony Joshua has been hugely active in the last 12 months and now he has confirmed when he will be back in the ring by revealing the date and location of his next bout.
Former two time unified world champion Joshua has fought four times since April 2023. His first fight in that period marked his return to the ring following difficult back to back losses to Oleksandr Usyk that saw him surrender his three world titles over 12 rounds, and then fail to win them back.
The rematch ended with him showing plenty of signs of stress with an outburst in the ring afterwards that included him dumping the belts over the ropes and out of the ring.
However he has rebuilt well and in the last year has beaten Jermaine Franklin on points, and knocked out Robert Helenius, Otto Wallin and most recently Francis Ngannou in increasingly impressive and quick fashion.
He has also seemingly settled on a new coach after a period of change that saw him leave Rob McCracken and work with Robert Garcia, then Derrick James, and now Tyson Fury’s former coach Ben Davison with whom he seems to have made a strong working relationship.
He now has his sights set on regaining a world title but must wait for Usyk and Fury to battle it out for all four undisputed titles on May 18 to see what happens. It is believed that soon after that fight the IBF belt will become vacant so could be one he contests in the near future.
Speaking to TalkSPORT, Joshua said where and when his next fight will be.
“Some date between September 20th and September 25th, any time in between there but any time they tell me there is a date I am going to be ready 100%. It’s going to be in London, Wembley Stadium, if that’s what they say, let’s go with that. 21st, 22nd some time like that.”
He was then asked about potential opponents.
“On June 1st in Saudi Arabia, they’ve got the 5 v 5, Fillip Hrgovic versus Daniel Dubois, Zhilei Zhang versus Deontay Wilder, the one who looks the best, who ever wins, Turki Alalshikh is saying let’s look at that. He said in the future I want them to look at your record and say you took on the best and I said now you are taking my language.”
He then spoke about the chances of a fight with Fury down the line.
“He’s trying to deliver what the fans want. I know he wants to deliver that big fight with Tyson Fury, Fury has his obligation with Usyk, so I have to keep steamrolling opponents so I get that opportunity to fight Fury and hopefully it’s in London as well.”
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