JOSHUA READY TO TAKE SHOW ON ROAD
THE Anthony Joshua Show will take in more football grounds next year. The phenomenal 80,000 attendance expected at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium for Joshua’s ho-hum world heavyweight title defence against the barely known Carlos Takam has convinced Britain’s WBA and IBF champion and his promoter Eddie Hearn that AJ will have to carry on fighting in football stadiums. They are planning three fights in 2018 to follow this Saturday’s challenge under the retractable Cardiff roof from Takam, the Afro-French slugger. London football grounds are currently on the radar — Arsenal fan Joshua would love to fight at the Emirates — and Hearn reasons that if they can fill Cardiff, then they should take the road show to Old Trafford or the Etihad. Joshua said: ‘I know there are loads of kids out there who want to see me. We love the O2 in London but if we go to an arena like that, not so many of the youngsters will have the chance to be there. You limit it at a time when there are so many people hoping to watch a world heavyweight title fight. The big stadium gives them that chance. It’s good for boxing. The demand is there.’ Even more demand for bigger fights than the one in Wales this weekend. This is only the second outing for Joshua this year, following his 90,000-spectator extravaganza against Wladimir Klitschko at Wembley Stadium in April. Kubrat Pulev, the Bulgarian whose withdrawal with a shoulder injury saw Takam take over as Joshua’s IBF mandatory challenger, was hardly a crowdpuller in the first place. Yet 78,000 tickets had been sold before Takam stepped in as substitute, while Sky Sports Box Office pay-per-view buys are reported to be holding steady. ‘That shows the scale of AJ’s appeal,’ says Hearn. ‘The O2 has been brilliant for us, it’s our home. But AJ is too big now for a 20,000 arena.’ Assuming Takam does not spring what would be one of the ring’s biggest upsets, Joshua is getting set for two world championship unification fights next year, plus a mandatory defence of his WBA title. The biggest one would be against Deontay Wilder, America’s knockout holder of the WBC belt. Joshua v Takam is live on Sky Sports Box Office on Saturday.