Nigerian-born world heavyweight boxing champion, Anthony Olaseni Oluwafemi Joshua is set to return to England for his next tile fight, as he opted to snub a mouth-watering offer to have the upcoming bout staged in Istanbul, Turkey or another location in Saudi Arabia.
Despite recent reports that ‘AJ’ could be returning to the Middle East country where he won his world belts back from Mexico’s Andy Ruiz Jnr on December 7, Joshua’s promoter, Eddie Hearn has disclosed that the champ’s mandatory title fight against Kubrat Pulev will hold in Britain.
This comes against the backdrop of a revelation that Joshua has been granted more time for talks with Bulgaria’s Pulev, the International Boxing Federation (IBF) mandatory challenger, but Hearn is confident that terms will be agreed within a fortnight.
The Matchroom Boxing boss admitted that Joshua still has to face World Boxing Organisation (WBO) mandatory challenger, Oleksandr Usyk of Ukraine, who has not been completely ruled out, despite reports indicating that he has accepted an alternative fight with Derek Chisora.
Hearn, though, is paying more attention on Joshua’s next fight, and hinted that two of London’s most popular grounds, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and Arsenal’s Emirates, are on the list of possible locations in the UK, with a potential date to be scheduled for May or June.
Hearn told Sky Sports: “Possible, but we’ve pretty much agreed terms now with Chisora and Usyk for that fight. It’s just a case of finalising it, March 28, early April, but I’m very confident you’ll see that fight as well. It’s close and if it was proving difficult to make, we would go into purse bids now at this stage, or they would order it.
“We spoke to the camps and they basically said we need another two weeks and we’ll have it finalised. Almost certainly that will be AJ’s next fight and almost certainly in the UK. The main issue we have is Pulev wants to make as much money for that fight as he can.
“There isn’t as much money for that fight in the UK as there is elsewhere, but AJ has given me the instruction that I boxed in New York, I boxed in Saudi, I would like to do this one in the UK. Spurs, Emirates, Cardiff, Twickenham, everywhere is in play, but most likely end of May, early June. Joshua-Pulev in the UK.”
