ANTHONY JOSHUA will defend his heavyweight world titles against Oleksandr Usyk on September 25, his promoter Eddie Hearn has confirmed.
It will be former unified cruiserweight king Usyk’s first world title fight in his new division.
Hearn went live on Instagram where he revealed the date had been set.
He said: “Joshua vs Usyk announcement, don’t want to say two week as you guys are bored of me saying that.
“September 25 is the date.”
Usyk gets his chance as he is the WBO mandatory challenger.
Joshua saw his ‘Battle of Britain against Tyson Fury fall through when Deontay Wilder won his case for a trilogy bout against the Gypsy King.
That will happen on July 24 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Joshua has since gone to claim that Fury ‘never really wanted the fight’.
Joshua’s training camp for his first outing of the year, which was initially meant to be against Tyson Fury, is well underway.
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And the Olympic gold medallist has likened himself to the fighters of old – who were willing to face any opponent on short notice.
Alongside a snap of himself limbering up before a training session, Joshua wrote: ‘Throw back fighter.”
Joshua was left bitterly disappointed by the cancelation of his long-awaited Battle of Britain with Fury, so much so he launched an uncharacteristic scathing attack on The Gypsy King.
He tweeted: “@Tyson_Fury the world now sees you for the fraud you are. You’ve let boxing down!
“You lied to the fans and led them on. Used my name for clout not a fight.
“Bring me any championship fighter who can handle their business correctly.”
The 31-year-old recently shared some savage gym work as he exercised his neck.
“Bring me any championship fighter who can handle their business correctly.”
