Anthony Joshua: 4 Heavyweights Who AJ Could Face in London in September, Including Deontay Wilder

Anthony Joshua: 4 Heavyweights Who AJ Could Face in London in September, Including Deontay Wilder

Byron Pillay
updated at April 29, 2024 at 6:40 AM
  • Anthony Joshua last fought in March, but will return to action in September in London
  • Zhilei Zhang and Deontay Wilder are two possible contenders who could face AJ next
  • The Bronze Bomber and AJ were due to slug it out before Wilder lost to Joseph Parker

Anthony Joshua is looking forward to fighting on home soil once more.

The British heavyweight confirmed that he will return to fight again this year, six months since his devastating knockout of Francis Ngannou.

Anthony Joshua will return to action against one of four men in Spetember.
Anthony Joshua will fight one of four heavyweights in London in September. Image: Richard Pelham.
Source: Getty Images

As noted by GiveMeSport, the former world champion confirmed that he would fight in London in September against one of four men.

All four potential opponents will be in action on June 1 on the undercard of the undisputed Light Heavyweight fight between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol.

With the 34-year-old making the announcement, Sports Brief looks at Joshua’s four potential opponents.

Four boxers who could fight AJ next

Daniel Dubois

Joshua could face a fellow Brit if he takes on Dubois in September.

Dynamite is a former holder of the Regular version of the World Boxing Association’s (WBA) heavyweight title and will be looking to return to title contention.

Dubois recently fought Oleksandr Usyk for the WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, IBO and The Ring titles but lost in a fight marred by a controversial moment.

He dropped the Ukrainian during the bout, but it was deemed a low blow, and the champion was allowed to recover.

Dubois has a record of 20 wins and just two losses, with 19 of his wins coming by way of knockout.

Filip Hrgović

Hrgović is a Croatian heavyweight who has yet to taste defeat in the sport.

El Animal has fought 17 times already, winning 14 of those via KO, Box Live reported.

His next bout will be against Dubois on Saturday, June 1, in Saudi Arabia. The fight is billed as a title eliminator, as the Croatian is the IBF’s mandatory challenger to take on the undisputed heavyweight champion.

Tyson Fury and Usyk will fight on May 18 to crown that undisputed champion of the division.

Zhilei Zhang

A Chinese heavyweight, Big Bang Zhang boasts a record of 26 wins and just two losses.

His only defeats came at the hands of Hrgović and New Zealand’s Joseph Parker in his last bout.

The 40-year-old was the WBO’s interim heavyweight champion prior to his defeat against Parker.

Zhang will take on Deontay Wilder in his next fight.

Deontay Wilder

The Bronze Bomber vs AJ is a fight many want to see.

The duo have been on a collision course before, but the fight never materialised.

AJ and Wilder were supposed to fight in March as a number one contender bout, but while the British fighter beat Otto Wallin last year to earn his spot, Wilder came up short against Parker on the same night.

Ngannou was then given the shot at Joshua in Saudi Arabia.

Speaking about a clash with the former champion, AJ said he was keen to fight him, if he impressed with his performance on June 1.

Wilder still wants AJ fight

Sports Brief previously reported how Wilder still wanted to fight Britain’s Joshua.

The American lost out on his first chance to fight AJ when he lost to Joseph Parker.

His co-manager explained they were speaking to Joshua’s camp to make it happen.

Authors
Byron Pillay photo
Byron Pillay
Byron Pillay is a sports writer and Head of the Department at Sports Brief (joined in 2022) with over 10 years of experience in community journalism and a degree in journalism from Caxton's Cadet School.