ANTHONY JOSHUA has confirmed plans to fight Deontay Wilder on the same night as Tyson Fury faces Oleksandr Usyk.
The British former heavyweight champion has had his eyes firmly set on a bout with Wilder since beating Robert Helenius at the 02 Arena earlier this month.
Joshua, 33, has ruled out fighting anyone else before Wilder, but is targeting a return before the end of the year.
Chatting with Sky Sports about the possibility of another match-up, he said: "The timeframe doesn't really give an opportunity for that.
"In reality we're trying to schedule a fight for December so unfortunately no. That's the time scale we're looking forward to really. In reality I'm going to focus on the Wilder fight for now."
On the blockbuster event itself, AJ added: "Fury's got to get past [Francis] Ngannou. Usyk's got to get past [Daniel] Dubois.
READ MORE SPORT NEWS
I’m an ex-soldier hired by Becks to protect Messi – I follow him round the pitch
Get £45 FREE BETS when you stake £10 on any Ebor York Festival race with Paddy Power
"Good luck to both of them. Good luck to every party involved and we can sit down and then rejig things around.
"The goal is to have Usyk and Fury compete for the undisputed heavyweight championship, myself and Deontay Wilder, two big punchers, great fighters, been to the top of the mountain, slug it out and may the best man win.
"It'll be a great event potentially. Wait to see what happens and then finalise the devil in the detail."
While Joshua is targeting a December return, Wilder is believed to be pushing for a January date.
Most read in Boxing
Ex-Olympian, European boxing champ Weller dies aged 69 after long illness
Deontay Wilder confirms he is working on TWO-FIGHT deal with Anthony Joshua
Hamilton fan Joshua given tour of fierce rival's garage ahead of Dutch GP
Ring girl Apollonia Llewellyn called 'ideal woman' as she poses in Santorini
CASINO SPECIAL – BEST ONLINE CASINOS FOR 2023
The Bronze Bomber was last in action in October 2022, when he too beat Helenius.
On a potential "slugfest" with Wilder, Joshua continued: "At the end of the day it's a fight and if it goes down that route, if someone's good enough to bring that out of you, you've got to know that you're man enough to stand up and fight for your territory.
"I'm saying I'm better than that and I should be able to beat any opponent, just by using one hand – I'm that good. That's my mindset.
"Whoever's good enough to bring that side out of me and take me to the trenches, let's go. That's what I'm looking for. I'm looking for an opponent that's good enough to take me to the trenches."
The fight is expected to take place in Saudi Arabia, with promoter Eddie Hearn having already travelled to the Middle East for negotiations.
Joshua is currently in Zandvoort ahead of the Formula 1 Dutch Grand Prix this weekend.
He is expected to cheer on pal Lewis Hamilton, but he put their friendship to one side yesterday as he was given a VIP tour by Red Bull.
🥊 Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk – Date, live stream, TV channel and all you need to know about heavyweight bout
Source: Read Full Article
