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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Sport
Alex Young

Antony Joshua confirms September date for next fight and four possible opponents

Anthony Joshua has confirmed a date for his next fight and his four possible opponents.

The former heavyweight champion had previously confirmed his next bout will take place at London’s Wembley Stadium in September, after knocking out Francis Ngannou in Saudi Arabia earlier this year.

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 gonna be in London, Wembley Stadium,” Joshua told talkSPORT. “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.”

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