The mandatory challenger for Joshua’s WBA title will be the Russian Alexander Povetkin on 22nd September. The fight will take place at Wembley as talks about the possible fight with Deontay Wilder were put on hold. Joshua has not been in the ring since March when he beat Joseph Parker to take his WBO title. That fight also saw Joshua accumulate 21 successive wins, so he is going into this fight with supreme confidence.
Joshua now has a nice collection of belts to his name – the WBA, WBO and IBF but that does not appear to be putting 38-year-old Povetkin off. He said “The battle for the world title has always been my goal. I fought for the moment to face the strongest in the world and on September 22 get my opportunity”.
Joshua vs Wilder fight could still happen
The world will be watching, with Deontay looking on with more interest than most. There is still the possibility that Joshua could meet Deontay Wilder next year but for now he has his sights on a win against Povetkin, who is ten years older than him. Povetkin is no stranger to controversy after he failed two drugs tests, which effectively ended his dreams of taking on Wilder.
Both boxers have outstanding records
The Olympic gold medal winner Joshua is the firm favourite against the Russian and with 20 knockouts from his 21 fights, you can expect a lot of the betting money going the same way. However, boxing experts are not writing Povetkin off, with a record of 35 outings and just one defeat (to Klitschko) he will give Joshua a real challenge.
Steve Bunce gave his thoughts on the Russian boxer: “I think he’s dangerous, I think he’s accurate, I think he has a brilliant boxing brain.” So this fight should be far from a training session for Joshua, despite his opponent turning 39 by the time that they fight.
