Wembley hitch for Joshua v Wilder

Anthony Joshua can only fight Deontay Wilder this year if he is willing to sacrifice Wembley Stadium as the chosen venue.

His American opponent insists he has agreed to Joshua’s demands, but he has done so at a time that makes Wembley difficult to secure and that therefore leaves Alexander Povetkin as Joshua’s likeliest next challenger.

It is understood that the WBA, WBO and IBF heavyweight champion wishes to fight in September and promoter Eddie Hearn has confirmed that he will send Wilder a contract this week, but even if it were to be signed that would leave too little time to build the fight as they intend.

Joshua has been adamant that the fight for all four world heavyweight titles, takes place in the UK.

“This is a London fight, a big fight that needs to be in the capital,” Joshua’s manager Freddie Cunningham said. “They’ve taken four weeks to come back to us, we’re assessing what they’ve sent back, but if you do the fight in September this is a huge fight, it needs a global PR tour, a 12-week camp.

“Ee’d love to do it as the next fight, but if not, we’d love to have it early next year.”