Anthony Joshua To Fight At Wembley Twice, Deontay Wilder Showdown In April?

World Boxing Council heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder could face Anthony Joshua in April next year after the latter was confirmed to have his next two fights take place at the Wembley Stadium in London.

Joshua, who holds the International Boxing Federation, International Boxing Organization, World Boxing Association (WBA) and World Boxing Organization (WBO) titles, was set to face Wilder in a highly-anticipated title unification clash in September after the American accepted his offer.

However, there were still delays and differing stories as to what was holding up the contract from getting finalized as the fight was seemingly called off at the end of last month when the WBA ordered Joshua to agree to a fight with his mandatory opponent Alexander Povetkin within 24 hours.

Ironically, the title defense against the Russian is still not confirmed as Wilder instantly unloaded on Joshua and his promoter Eddie Hearn, claiming they never wanted the fight.

What is confirmed, however, is that Joshua will return to compete at Wembley on Sept. 22 and April 13 next year. "AJ" notably won three of his four titles in an epic showdown against Wladimir Klitschko in April last year with 90,000 fans in attendance.

He would later defend his titles against Carlos Takam before winning the WBO belt from Joseph Parker at Cardiff's Principality Stadium.

"I am returning to Wembley after two mega fights in Cardiff. I want to thank the supporters from Wales and Great Britain and also the people of London for patiently awaiting my return," Joshua said. "Being north London born and raised, it is in my blood. The opportunity to fight in such an iconic stadium is normally a once-in-a-career opportunity, so to be given the chance to fight there again is amazing. Wembley just added a fourth lion to the den."

While Povetkin is not confirmed yet, he is likely to be the September opponent for Joshua. The April fight, however, could very well be against Wilder, who has a contract for that date, according to Hearn's father Barry.

"There is a contract on [Wilder’s] people’s desk which says: April 13, 2019, Wembley Stadium," Barry said recently. "The contract encapsulates all the terms that you agreed. We appreciate Wilder isn’t making any money. He probably looks at Joshua with a good degree of jealousy."

"Wilder has something in front of him where he can plan his future. He can earn five or six times more than he’s ever earned in his life,” Hearn said. “You either want the fight or you don’t want the fight. AJ is giving you the opportunity. Paying you $15m to live the dream."

Regardless of the eventual opponents, the junior Hearn is delighted Joshua will be fighting at Wembley next as he hopes to continue to make the United Kingdom the hub for boxing.

"I'm extremely honored to get the opportunity to promote two more shows at the national stadium and delighted for British fight fans that Anthony has made this commitment to them," Eddie said. "I don't think anyone will ever forget that night of April 29 against Klitschko and we plan to bring two more dramatic events to Wembley Stadium in September and April. Images from these AJ events make our country the envy of the boxing world and long may it continue."