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Spurs stadium confirmed for Joshua’s next fight

Anthony Joshua’s next fight will take place at Tottenham Hotspur’s new stadium in June, it has been confirmed.

Joshua will defend his IBF, WBA, WBO and IBO heavyweight boxing titles against Kubrat Pulev on June 20.

It will mark Joshua’s first fight since defeating Andy Ruiz Jr in Saudi Arabia in December, and his first in the UK since defeating Alexander Povetkin at Wembley Stadium in September 2018. Joshua had lost to Ruiz at New York’s Madison Square Garden six months before the Saudi Arabia rematch.

Bulgaria’s Pulev has won 28 of his 29 fights and is the IBF’s mandatory challenger. It will mark the first major boxing match held at Tottenham’s new stadium, which opened last April.

Joshua said: “I’m back in my home city after some time away. A spectacular stadium has been built in North London and I’m honoured to bring the boxing community from all over the world to witness us make history with the stadium’s first heavyweight world title fight. The belts go back up in the air and nothing will stop me from being victorious.”

Promoter Eddie Hearn added: “I’m so excited to see Anthony Joshua return to the capital, 70,000 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is going to be very special. 2019 was a crazy year that had everything – the only thing missing was a UK fight and as we go into what I believe will be the biggest year of ‘AJ’s’ career so far, all our attention turns to Kubrat Pulev in an absolute must-win fight.”

Hearn revealed in January that talks have been held for a future Joshua fight to be held at Kinshasa’s Stade Tata Raphaël, the site for the famous Rumble in the Jungle fight between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman.

As well as serving as Tottenham’s home, the club’s state-of-the-art stadium hosts NFL games and later this month it will stage the Premiership rugby union match between Saracens and Harlequins. In November, the stadium will host the third and final Test of rugby league’s Ashes series.

The stadium is also set to stage its first concerts this summer, with Guns N’ Roses to perform two nights at the venue on May 29-30. Capital’s Summertime Ball will follow on June 6.

Image: Tottenham Hotspur