Former two-time heavyweight champ Anthony Joshua has said his next fight will take place at Wembley, on either September 20th or the 21st. Speaking with Talk Sport, AJ also spoke about the short-list of opponents Turki Alalshikh will present him with, with the four-man list comprising of: the Filip Hrgovic-Daniel Dubis winner and the Deontay Wilder-Zhilei Zhang winner.
In truth, we fans would certainly get excited about seeing Joshua in with either the winner of the Zhang-Wilder collision or the Dubois-Hrgovic rumble. Joshua as we know has won his last four, and some people feel the 34 year old has fully got back his mojo, to the point of him being ‘better than ever.’
Might we get to see Joshua Vs. Wilder this September at Wembley if Wilder does the business against Zhang? Maybe so.
“It’s gonna be in London, Wembley Stadium. This what I’m being told. If that’s what they say, they normally back their word so let’s go with that,” AJ said when speaking about his next ring engagement. “Wembley, September 20 or 21. You’ve got Filip Hrgovic versus Daniel Dubois and you’ve got 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.”
Joshua also spoke briefly about how Alalshikh is working on getting that massive (still) Joshua-Tyson Fury fight across the line, but that Fury must get through his May battle with Oleksandr Usyk first. We will have to see what the future holds with regards to whether or not we will get to see AJ and Fury get it on, but for now, Joshua against either Wilder, Zhang, Hrgovic or Dubois in September is something to look forward to.
Again, all four possible match ups would prove to be a hit and, depending on how good the two winners look on June 1, a case could perhaps be made for either fight involving Joshua being around 60/40 in favour of Joshua or maybe closer.
If Wilder lays Zhang out in devastating, highlight reel fashion, the clamour for him to fight Joshua next will be enormous, and vice-versa, if “Big Bang” wipes out Wilder fans will scream for him to fight AJ. The Hrgovic-Dubois fight might not have quite the same X-factor to it, but it’s another darn good match up, and the winner against Joshua would absolutely be a fight to tune in for.
Above all, it’s great that Joshua is staying busy, staying active. Maybe, as Eddie Hearn has said he truly believes to be the case, the best is yet to come from Anthony Joshua.