It has been announced that Anthony Joshua will be back in the ring later in the year. It is not yet the big showdown against Deontay Wilder that just about everyone wants to see. Instead, it has been confirmed that AJ will be stepping out at Wembley to face Alexander Povetkin first in September.
Joshua is unbeaten in 21 fights and puts that unbeaten record on the line against the 38-year-old Russian veteran who spectacularly knocked out David Price back at the end of March, a fight that was on the undercard of the Joshua v Joseph Parker bout. The Russian is a 5/1 underdog* (betting odds taken on July 16th, 2018 at 7:12 pm) for the fight.
Joshua is the unified WBA, IBF and WBO world heavyweight titleholder after taking out Parker on points in Cardiff earlier this year. So what will Joshua be facing in Povetkin? The Russian has lost just the one fight since making his pro debut back in 2005 and knows his way around the ring. To put his career in context, the only defeat that he did suffer was against Wladimir Klitschko.
He is a big hitter and impressed a lot in his destruction of Price earlier in the year. It won’t be an easy fight for Joshua although the Brit is the odds-on favourite at 1/10* (betting odds taken on July 16th, 2018 at 7:12 pm). The reason that Joshua is going up against him is because Povetkin is the mandatory challenger for the WBA title and so once Joshua is through this, then he will have more choice over who he goes up against next.
So the wait for a potential Joshua v Wilder bout goes on with the two camps not coming together on where to hold the fight. That would be for the WBC title and no boxer has ever held all four of the recognised World titles at the same time, so that would be such a big deal if it comes about.
Anthony Joshua v Alexander Povetkin
Joshua – 1/10
Povetkin – 5/1
Draw – 33/1
* (betting odds taken from Ladbrokes on July 16th, 2018 at 7:12 pm)
