Friday 6 March 2020 15:35, UK
Anthony Joshua's fight at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium against Kubrat Pulev on June 20 will be live on Sky Sports Box Office.
Joshua will put his IBF, WBA and WBO heavyweight championships at stake in his homecoming fight in London to stay on course for a massive unification fight with WBC champion Tyson Fury.
Joshua must end the hopes of his mandatory challenger Pulev - the experienced Bulgarian has lost just once in 29 fights, to Wladimir Klitschko in 2013, but has since beaten Derek Chisora and Hughie Fury.
Fighting at Tottenham's stadium will be Joshua's first outing on UK soil in nearly two years since he beat Alexander Povetkin at Wembley. He spent 2019 on the road, losing to Andy Ruiz Jr in New York then beating him in Saudi Arabia, but now returns for another major stadium fight.
"On June 20, I am defending my heavyweight world titles," said Joshua. "I'm back in my home city after some time away. A spectacular stadium has been built in north London and I'm honoured to bring the boxing community from all over the world to witness us make history with the stadium's first heavyweight world title fight.
"The belts go back up in the air and nothing will stop me from being victorious."
Promoter Eddie Hearn said: "I'm so excited to see Anthony Joshua return to the capital, 70,000 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is going to be very special.
"2019 was a crazy year that had everything - the only thing missing was a UK fight and as we go into what I believe will be the biggest year of AJ's career so far, all our attention turns to Kubrat Pulev in an absolute must-win fight.
"Pulev is undefeated in six years and his team and especially Bob Arum really fancy this. I think you are going to see something special from AJ on June 20 - a destructive performance on the road to undisputed."
Bob Arum, Top Rank Chairman, said: "Kubrat Pulev has earned his ranking, and he is going to enemy territory prepared to pull off the upset. Ever since Top Rank signed Kubrat last year, I have seen a determined heavyweight on a mission to win the heavyweight title. He has been in this situation before, and he won't be intimidated by the tens of thousands of Joshua fans at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. June 20 is going to be another historic evening in the heavyweight division."
Adam Smith, Sky Sports' head of boxing development, said: "We're absolutely delighted about Anthony Joshua's homecoming world title fight against Kubrat Pulev at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
"Pulev is a dangerous proposition, with plenty of top-level experience, and AJ will need to be at his best to retain his belts in front of his home support.
"We've covered every step of AJ's journey, including his impressive rematch win over Andy Ruiz Jr in Saudi Arabia, and now he's back in Britain at the home of Spurs.
"I recently visited the stadium and was blown away by the state-of-the-art facilities. It will provide a stunning backdrop for Britain's unified world heavyweight champion."
John Wirt, President of Epic Sports and Entertainment, said: "This fight has been a long time coming, but we finally have Joshua cornered and on June 20, I guarantee Pulev will be victorious and Great Britain's recently acquired chokehold on the heavyweight division championship will be brought to quick and sudden ending."
