On Saturday night, promoter Eddie Hearn confirmed that Anthony Joshua (18-0, 18 KOs) and Wlad Klitschko (64-4, 53 early) will meet at Wembley Stadium on Apri 29 in a fight that could generate over £40 million.
Hearn is expecting a 90,000 sell out crowd as well as a large number of PPV buys from fans who will want to watch it live on Sky Sports Box Office. Carl Froch against George Groves II at the same venue brought in around £22 million so the financial forecast looks good for Joshua-Klitschko.
Joshua will put his IBF belt on the line, and WBA and IBO titles will also be up for grabs.
“Capacity-wise this will be bigger than the Froch-Groves rematch,” said Hearn when speaking to the press following Joshua’s third-round win over Eric Molina at the Manchester Arena on Saturday night. “This is unique, two Olympic champions at different stages of their careers.
“We have the hottest prospect in world boxing against a legend in the heavyweight division. We’re looking to go to 90,000. We have permission for about 80,000 and then we have to speak to Mr Khan, the Mayor, to improve that with some transport around it.”
Joshua, though, has stressed that he will still attract criticism from some quarters even if he beats the former heavyweight world Champion. “If I beat him people will say he is past his time,” added Joshua.
“If I lose then people will say: ‘This guy is a hype job.’ “It’s just a fight. If the winner is the Number One heavyweight then I will still have to go and prove it again and again.”
“I’ve boxed at Wembley before,” stated Joshua when looking ahead to what will be a massive night for British boxing. “It doesn’t matter to me if it’s 90,000 people or nine people, they are the same rules and regulations and I’ll have the same attitude to win.”
