JOSHUA ‘LIKELY TO DEFEND WORLD TITLE IN CARDIFF’

ANTHONY Joshua is ‘likely’ to make the next defence of his world heavyweight title in Cardiff if he fights again in the UK, his promoter Eddie Hearn has revealed.

The bout would take place at the Principality Stadium in the autumn or early winter – and it could even be a mouthwatering rematch with Wladimir Klitschko after their epic showdown at Wembley on Saturday night.

Hearn explained the plans as he weighed up the next option for Joshua in the wake of his 11th-round stoppage of Klitschko, which broke British crowd and pay-per-view records.

The promoter wants Joshua to build a legacy over the next eight years and is even considering fighting in China, Africa and the United States.

But he wants to make Britain the capital of world boxing and would prefer Joshua to continue performing here.

Hearn says Joshua has such boxoffice appeal he can only fight at similarly-sized venues to Wembley, but weather concerns seem to rule out the home of football for a boxing contest towards the end of the year.

He said: “I don’t think he’ll box again until again between September and December. It’s more likely to be Cardiff ’s Millennium Stadium (sic) if it’s in the UK.

“We can’t return to The 02, and Manchester Arena. The next phase is about the big heavyweight championship fights.”

Hearn had opened talks with the Welsh Rugby Union about staging Joshua v Klitschko I at the Prinicpality Stadium, but opted to take the bout to Wembley where a 90,000 post-war record British fight crowd saw an absorbing contest.

But, with weather conditions needing to factored in next time, the Principality Stadium’s roof will give Cardiff the edge according to Hearn.

The 74,000-seater ground has staged top-level boxing before, with Joe Calzaghe defending his world super-middleweight crown in front of 50,000 Welsh fans by defeating Mikkel Kessler on points.

A world heavyweight showdown also took place at the old Arms Park in 1993 when Lennox Lewis beat Frank Bruno.

But such is the box office appeal of Joshua, his appearance at the Principality Stadium would take things to a whole new level.

Warren Gatland’s Welsh rugby side have autumn internationals to play on four successive Saturdays from November 11 – against Australia, Georgia, New Zealand and South Africa. But the WRU will be more than happy to strike a deal with Hearn over other available dates.