Former heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua has confirmed he’ll return in September at Wembley Stadium in London for his next fight listing four possible opponents, as contained in latest reports.
The British-Nigerian boxer wants to step in the ring soon after demolishing Francis Ngannou in one round last March in Saudi Arabia.
Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk will soon be in action, as they will meet in June for their undisputed heavyweight bout, and Joshua has said he will fight again at the end of the summer, on September 20 or 21, in Wembley.
Joshua says his next opponent will come from the Frank Warren and Eddie Hearn 5 vs 5 night on June 1, when Deontay Wilder takes on Zhilei Zhang and Daniel Dubois faces Filip Hrgovic in Riyadh.
“It’s going to be in London, Wembley Stadium. This is what I’m being told. If that’s what they say, they normally back their word so let’s go with that,” he said on Saturday.
“Wembley, September 20 or 21. You have Filip Hrgovic versus Daniel Dubois and Zhilei Zhang versus Deontay Wilder (on June 1). So providing one of those (winners) looks good – the one who looks the best, His Excellency Turki Alalshikh said to me, ‘I want you to fight him.’ He’s trying to deliver what the fans want.”
After losing twice to Oleksandr Usyk, many believed that Joshua wouldn’t recover mentally and didn’t give him much of a chance to see him fight for a title again.
However, the Watford native changed trainers and made some adjustments, aware that he needed to bring something else to his game to become a champion again.
Joshua proved many doubters wrong in his following fights, winning all his bouts since then. He beat Jermaine Franklin, Robert Helenius, Otto Wallin, and Francis Ngannou and seems to have recovered the confidence he used to have.
Joshua added that the list of his potential opponents is rather short, but he’s eager to take on anyone.
Olaitan Ibrahim