The much anticipated heavyweight fight between Anthony Joshua and Wladimir Klitschko looks like it will take place next April, according to promoter Eddie Hearn.
Hearn said details about venue and exact date have yet to be confirmed, but Hearn does have some ideas as to where to place the fight. The two will fight for the vacant WBA "super" heavyweight title.
“Probably early to mid April,” Hearn said. “I want it to be in a stadium, I don’t really want it to be an arena. But it’s April so Cardiff [the Millennium stadium] could be a good place to go. I’d still like to do it at Wembley. You do run a slight risk in April [of rain] but we’ll see.”
In the meantime, Joshua will defend his IBF heavyweight title against Eric Molina on December 10. Klitschko and Joshua were negotiating to have their fight in December, but Klitschko got injured and is ruled out of competition for the rest of the year. Hearn said that Joshua must focus on the task at hand, beating Molina, before even preparing for a Klitschko fight.
“All we’re doing is looking at venues and dates," Hearn said. "The WBA thing was huge for us, get that over the line means we can go in and effectively get it underway. But he’s got to beat Molina. Joshua has got to stay switched on in that fight.”
The one roadblock that negotiations for the Klitschko fight faced last month was the WBA's decision of whether or not to sanction the fight for the organization's vacant title, which Klitschko was adamant about occurring. Now that the WBA said that the two could fight for its heavyweight belt, the fight is now on.
